A Hint of a Threat
by Snavej
Summary: The second to last thing Taniyama Mai expected when she arrived home early from a school trip was someone else to be in her apartment. The very last thing she expected was for them to be holding a knife to her throat and threatening her life. [Assassin AU]
1. Chapter 1

"_Arino mama de sore he kaze ni notte!_" I sung as I started up the final set of stairs to my apartment's front door. "_Arino mama de tobidashite miru no!_" I pulled out my keys, inserted my house key into the lock and turned it. "_Nidoto namida ha nagasanai wa!_" I entered my flat, dumped my keys on the counter and felt a knife pressed to my throat.

A hand pulled the headphones from my ears.

"Scream and I'll kill you." A low voice whispered in my ears. "Now tell me why you are in this flat?"

"It's my home!" I whimpered in reply. I could feel my entire body shaking and could hear the song still playing through my headphones that were now dangling from my pocket to the floor. I could see nothing of the man holding me captive, but I glanced around the room for any other clues as to who he might be and why he was here. There was something by the window that was just out of my range of vision, but otherwise everything looked just like I'd left it earlier this morning.

"You are Taniyama Mai?"

"Yes." I whispered timidly. It was taking all my nerve just to force my legs into holding my body up.

"First year student at the local high school?" How could this man be so calm?

"Yes." I repeated, trying to prevent myself from hyperventilating.

"You should be on a school trip today and not returning for another few hours. So I will ask again, why are you in this flat?" How did he know that?

"The trip was cut short so I came home early." I attempted to slow my breathing down a bit. "Who are you?"

"Don't ask questions you don't want to know the answer to." The low voice said. "I am going to remove the knife from your throat. If you make any loud noises I will kill you." His voice was completely emotionless.

"Can I move around?" I asked tentatively as I felt the knife move away from my neck. I felt around where it had been pressed onto my throat, but there seemed to be no permanent damage.

"Not yet." The voice said and I did not move a muscle for fear of him hurting me. Then the strange man to whom the voice belonged to moved in front of me. He was wearing a balaclava over his face and was over a head taller than me, though no more distinctive as he was wearing entirely black clothing. He was holding one of my scarves.

"What are…?" But before I could finish my sentence he was blindfolding me with it. The last thing I saw was a pair of very cold brilliant blue eyes.

"I am going to guide you to your sofa. You are going to sit there quietly while I pack away my things and then I am going to leave. If you mention this to anyone I will kill you."

"How will you know?" I asked boldly.

"I have my ways." He replied. I felt him remove my phone from my pocket and heard him pause the music that was playing.

"Are you with the police?"

"Don't be stupid." The man said with the first hint of emotion, which for some reason relaxed me a little. At least he wasn't completely a robot. "Police don't normally threaten to kill people."

"So you're an assassin?"

"What did I tell you about questions you don't want to know the answer to?"

I felt large hands guide me surprisingly gently to the sofa. I sat and wondered if I dare ask another question.

I decided I did. If this guy was going to kill me, I may as well be well informed before I died.

"Why do you kill people?"

"Because there is a need for it."

"Has there been a target you have missed? One that got away?"

"Never." Wow, he's confident in himself, not that if filled me with much hope for escape.

"But don't you feel bad about it? Taking someone's life?"

"My target didn't seem to."

"Wouldn't you feel bad killing me? I haven't done anything wrong!"

"Curiosity killed the cat Taniyama-san. I'm sure it could also kill a high school student without too much trouble."

I fell silent. I could hear him fiddling with something that I guessed had to be a gun. Was he using my place as a lookout to snipe someone?

"Are you still going to kill them?"

"Not now, I'll finish the job later."

"Why?"

"You interrupted." The man said. "If by some chance, you managed to have me turned in for this, I could only be imprisoned now for breaking and entering, and threatening you. Leaving now and finding a new way to my target would make more sense, don't you think?"

"But what I told them you were going to kill someone?"

"I don't think they would believe you." The man said, sounding almost amused. "I'm only robbing you, why would I talk about killing people? You'll just sound like an over-reacting child."

"But you have a gun." I prompted. "And I'm not a child!"

"I am confident I can dispose of this before you are able to turn me in." He said. So he did have a gun. "And you are sixteen years old. Legally, you are a child." I was slightly concerned about how much he knew about me, it was kind of creepy.

"Well in that case, I will get you done for being a pervert too! Tying up a sixteen year old basically makes you a paedophile."

"I doubt that would stick. I am not an adult either." He replied coldly. "And you are hardly tied up."

"You're not an adult?!" I asked, genuinely surprised. "And you said you'd kill me if I moved from the sofa."

"I am seventeen years old. I am not even an adult in my own country." He replied. "And yes, I will kill you if you move but you are still not tied up."

"Your own country? Your accent is good for a foreigner." I replied, still shocked. "Why haven't you killed me already?"

I knew it was a stupid question, but I still wanted to know the answer. Assuming he was an assassin, surely he should have just killed me and gotten out of here? It made no sense to leave me living, did it? I was a witness, wasn't I?

There was a pause before he answered as if he was considering the question.

"There is no reason to kill you. Leaving your body here will make the police ask questions that might cause me trouble. Moving your body will be more effort than it's worth and if you are then missing, that's still unwanted attention."

His reasons did make sense. Yet I couldn't help but feel like something was off.

"Who are you trying to kill?" I asked and the man paused, I heard the click of a case.

"Would you feel at ease if I told you it was a bad person?"

"And who exactly does an assassin view as a bad person?"

"Anyone I am paid enough to view as such. But everyone must take responsibility for their own actions."

"How much do you charge?"

"You couldn't afford me." He said smugly. His voice had moved; it was no longer by the window.

"Are you leaving?" I asked.

"Unless you plan on inviting me for a cup of tea, then yes I am leaving."

"I'll make you one if you like." I offered. So he might have threatened to kill me several times, but that was no reason to forget my manners.

He made a sound that was almost like a laugh, but not quite.

Then I heard the door open and close again. I ripped the scarf from my head and rushed to the door. I yanked it open and stared around, but he was gone. I rushed to the stairs, but I could not see him walking down them either.

"Taniyama-san? Are you alright?" My elderly neighbour, Ogawa-san, asked from his own doorway.

"Yes!" I said hastily. "I just thought I had dropped something. It must be in my bag!"

I bowed and walked back to my flat. The area around my window was clean. There was no remaining evidence at all. I found my phone on the kitchen worktop but even that appeared to be smudge free, he had obviously wiped it just in case.

I hadn't even asked his name.


	2. Chapter 2

Of course I didn't tell anyone what had happened. How could I? As if anyone would believe me?

But I did write it down. Just in case. I wrote out every word I could remember of what strange man had said and what I saw of his appearance, and then I hid the piece of paper in my folder of important documents. It was a file of things like my birth certificate and my rent agreement. Hopefully, if something did happen to me, then the police or someone might find it and…

But if he was an assassin, would they even be able to find him?

I didn't know.

It still bugged me that he had let me live. Not that I wasn't grateful, but I was now aware of his existence. I couldn't help but feel that this put me in a compromising position.

For the entirety of the following day, I kept looking over my shoulder; constantly wondering if he was watching me for signs of betrayal. For all I knew, he could have his sniper trained on me as I walked to school, as I studied in class and as I ate my lunch.

I think Keiko and Michiru noticed something was up. They began questioning me as we walked home.

"Say, Mai, are you okay?" Keiko asked, obviously genuinely concerned.

"Of course I am!" I replied cheerfully.

"Then why have you been so weird today?" Michiru asked.

"I am not weird!" I protested.

"Did you meet a boy?!" Keiko guessed wildly. Well technically yes, I did…

"She did!" Michiru joined in with Keiko's mirth.

I decided not to correct my two friends, but let them fantasise about my – currently non-existent – love life as we walked.

"Come on!" Keiko said, grabbing my arm. "Let's go and get a coffee!" She pointed towards a café and I nodded before grabbing Michiru's arm and dragging her after us.

The three of us giggled our way to the shop, the topic now moving onto Michiru's boyfriend; Shuuya.

"And then we walked around the park and it was oh so romantic!" Michiru was exclaiming joyfully as we entered the little coffee shop. It was reasonably busy, as many students had just finished school, but I spotted a free table.

"I'll save us this table; you guys get your drinks!" I said quickly. My two friends nodded and joined the queue. I took a seat by the window.

My mind, once again, was drawn back to that man. That man and his piercing blue eyes. I'll admit I had been afraid to sleep last night, in case he came back.

I had spent a large part of my evening looking for how he had gotten into my flat in the first place. I had no spare key and the lock did not look damaged, so there was no chance he had picked the lock. The windows were all still locked too. So how had he managed it?

I was completely lost in thought when my two friends reappeared.

"Mai?" Keiko poked me in the side and I squealed automatically.

"Eh? What?"

"You can go and get your drink now!"

"Oh, right!" I stood up hastily.

"She's away with the fairies that girl." I heard Michiru say as I left my bag with my friends, and joined the queue myself. It was moving quite quickly and I looked up to the list of drinks.

I was just trying to decide what I wanted, when someone behind me touched my arm.

"Excuse me, I think you dropped this." A low voice said. I turned to see a tall young man with black hair holding my purse. My purse that had previous been in my zipped blazer pocket. How on earth had I dropped it?

"Thank you." I said, taking it back and frowning. I looked up into the man's eyes and gasped.

They were a cold, yet brilliant blue.

"That's quite alright." The man said. "You should be careful with your things."

His mouth was smiling, but his eyes weren't.

"Have we met before?" I asked, knowing full well what his untruthful answer would be.

"No, I don't think so." He said; that fake charming smile still plastered on his face.

"Let me buy you a drink." I offered. "In thanks for what you have done for me."

We had just reached the front of the queue. I gave my order and looked expectantly at the man beside me and he gave his own. I could feel him watching me as I paid.

We moved further along the counter as we waited for our drinks to be made.

"Will you join me and my friends?" I asked. The man pulled his phone out of his pocket and glanced at the time.

"I think I could spare a few minutes."

The barista handed us our drinks and I led the man to the table where Michiru and Keiko were sat.

"Who's this?" Keiko asked me, raising an eyebrow pointedly.

"I dropped my purse and this kind gentleman helped me." I explained while smiling, before turning to the man. "I'm sorry; I didn't catch your name?" I prompted.

"Shibuya Kazuya." He replied. We both sat down.

"Wow look at you Mai, getting the attention of two attractive men in the space of 24 hours!" Michiru teased.

"Okay, the first man never existed!" I protested. "You two just assumed he did!"

"You never said he didn't!" Keiko replied indignantly.

I only rolled my eyes, but Michiru had already begun interrogating our guest.

"So what year are you in?" She asked kindly. I watched him carefully, interested in his answer. He wasn't wearing a school uniform, but a black suit and a black shirt. His face didn't look much older than those of people our own age. And I guess Michiru had been right, he was very attractive; if only his smile reached his eyes…

"I'm seventeen years old." He replied. An odd response…

"So you're our senpai!" Keiko said. "Well thank you Shibuya-senpai for helping Mai."

Shibuya smiled and nodded, but before he could say anything else his phone rang.

"Please, excuse me." He stood up with his drink and moved a little way from us.

"Mai, you have to get his number!" Keiko gushed. "He's gorgeous!"

"I can't just ask a guy for his number!" I protested. Even if I ignored the fact that I strongly suspected this guy was an assassin, asking a guy for his number would be thoroughly embarrassing.

Shibuya returned before my friends could badger me further.

"I'm afraid I have to leave now, might I have a word with you Taniyama-san?"

"Okay." I stood up and followed him to the door.

"Nice friends you have there." His tone was friendly, but his words could've been seen as a threat.

"Yes, they are." I said firmly.

"So about this boy you met in the last 24 hours?" He prompted. Was he checking up on me?

"Those two are boy crazy. Honestly, I just didn't sleep well, and they took my vacant expression for daydreaming about a boy." I replied truthfully.

"Why didn't you sleep well?" He asked; his face was still smiling kindly.

"Just worried about things." I replied. It was so weird, having a conversation with a man where both of us were pretending yesterday hadn't happened.

"Ah, I see. There is no need to worry, I promise you." He said, his smile fading slightly and a more serious expression replacing it. "You should get back to your friends."

"I should." I agreed, but I continued to stare up at the man in front of me.

"I would ask for your number, but I think we both know that I already know it." He said and smirked as my mouth fell open. It was the first time he had admitted that we had met previously. "I know I'm handsome, but you don't need to stare."

"I'm not!" I scowled.

"See you around, Taniyama-san." He turned on his heel and walked away. I watched him go. What a narcissistic arrogant git! Talking as if he knew everything!

I knew Shibuya Kazuya wasn't his real name and that it would just be an alias. If I had any say in the matter, his real name would be Naru, short for narcissist. I sniggered to myself before returning to my friends.

"So did you ask for his number?!" Keiko asked immediately.

"No, but I gave him mine." I replied. Well it was sort of true.

"Ooh! Mai! If he becomes your boyfriend, we can go on double dates!" Michiru said ecstatically. "I would recommend taking him to that park on a first date." She nodded knowingly.

"I am not taking Naru-chan on a date." I replied stonily.

"Naru-chan?"

"He's such a narcissist!" I said. "I don't want a boyfriend like that!"

Half an hour or so later, I found myself back in my own flat. Once again, I checked all the locks on the doors and windows, but nothing seemed to have been opened. Sighing, I found my important document folder and made to pull out the piece of paper I had added yesterday so I could add new details about this man.

But it wasn't there.


	3. Chapter 3

I rewrote the lost document and added the new details of our meeting at the coffee shop. Then I folded it carefully and placed it in my bra. There was no way in hell that he would be able to find it if it was on my person at all times. At night, I took to sleeping with a sport bra on with the piece of paper still folded in its depths. The only time I did not have that piece of paper touching my skin was when I was showering. At those times, I left it on the bathroom floor, clearly visible at all times.

But by the end of the week, there had been no reappearance of Naru and my sleep patterns had almost returned to normal, even if I had decided to sleep with a knife under my pillow.

In fact, on the following Friday, my mind was finally drawn away from my fear of that man to a new topic; the old school building.

We had been in a maths lesson when it had happened. I had been struggling through some trigonometric identities when a loud cracking noise distracted the entire class.

Everyone had rushed to the window to watch as the old school building collapsed piece by piece. It had been out of use for decades and I knew that the headmaster had attempted to have it knocked down properly a few times. But every time they had tried, weird accidents kept happening and in the end, they had given up and left it to rot.

"Woah…" I heard Keiko exclaim beside me before she tugged on my arm. "Do you think it was because of the ghosts?" She hissed.

"There's no such thing." I replied.

"Kuroda-san said there were spirits in that place. She said they were from the war or something." Keiko countered. "And she's always been receptive of those sorts of things."

I didn't reply. I mean I loved telling ghost stories as much as the next person, but still… I couldn't believe that ghosts – even if there was such a thing – could pull down a whole building.

The rest of the day's classes were highly disrupted. No one could concentrate as the fire engines pulled up outside the school and workmen started going through the rubble.

After lessons finished, Keiko, Michiru and I walked past the men working and I briefly wondered why they were bothering to go through the rubble at all. Then a sudden shout caused us to look back.

"There's a body!" One of the workmen had yelled.

"Oh no!" Keiko gasped. "You don't think someone got caught in that?"

"Maybe not…" I said slowly. "Last year there was that guy who hung himself in there wasn't there? Maybe it's just another suicide victim? So they were already dead?" I didn't want to think of the alternative.

"Oh that's horrible!" Michiru said. "Let's get away from here! I don't want to see a dead body."

As I happened to quite agree, we started walking again. Ten minutes later, I parted from my friends and returned to my flat.

For the first time since I had met Naru, I entered my flat without much caution though I still hadn't worked up to walking around with headphones in yet.

This lack of care turned out to be a mistake.

"Hello." A low voice said from the other side of the room and I screamed. I pulled my hand up to my mouth to silence myself and I turned to see him sat comfortably on my sofa. He was not smiling.

"What are you doing here?!" I hissed as I clutched at my chest.

"Tea." He said simply. Scowling, I dropped my school bag into a chair and flicked the kettle on. I could tell he was about to speak, but he was interrupted by a knock on my door. My eyes met his for a good ten seconds before he spoke. "Answer it."

I walked to the door, opened it a tad and stuck my head out.

"Are you alright Taniyama-san?" It was Ogawa-san, my neighbour.

"Yes, of course I am." I tried to smile reassuringly.

"I heard you scream?" He prompted; his face a mask of worry. But I knew I couldn't tell him even if I wanted to, telling him would result in both our deaths.

"It was a spider." I invented quickly. "It just surprised me; I have dealt with it now. Thank you for your concern."

"Oh alright then, well call if you need anything won't you?"

"Of course, good evening." I gave him a slight bow and shut the door.

"You're scared of spiders?" Naru asked behind me.

"No, but Ogawa-san doesn't know that." I said as I began to make tea.

"I heard about what happened at your school." He continued in his husky voice.

"The building collapse?"

"I imagine it'll be ruled down to land subsidence." He replied knowledgeably. "I heard there was a body."

How could he know that though? They had only found it no more than 15 minutes ago? Unless…

"Yes." I agreed. "I heard that too, though that building has been used for suicides before."

"I heard it was a local business man who had all sort of dodgy dealings." Naru said as I poured the tea from the pot.

"Is that so?" I took the two cups of tea and passed him one before sitting down on the opposite side of the small coffee table.

"I am not here just for gossip and tea though." He said, holding the mug and staring at the murky brown liquid.

"Go on?" I prompted and took a sip of my tea.

"I need that piece of paper." He said before taking a sip of his own.

"What piece of paper?"

"The piece of paper you've been keeping in your bra."

"I have no idea what you're talking about!" I protested quickly, but I could feel my face going red.

"If you are going to make yourself a bother, I can arrange an alternative method of keeping you quiet."

I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

"What are you going to do? Kill me?" I replied flippantly.

"Keiko and Michiru were such nice friends." He said coldly.

"What do you mean 'were'?" I asked, my temper flaring.

But he did not reply to me. Instead, he pulled out his phone and tapped a button before holding it to his ear.

"Do you have the girl in your sights?" He asked calmly.

"Stop!" I protested. "If you are going to kill someone, kill me!" I didn't know which of my friends his associate had a sniper on, but there was no way I was going to let him kill one of them!

"Hold it." He said into the phone, before lowering it and looking up at me. "No one needs to die at all, if you hand over that piece of paper."

I fumbled at the neck of my blouse, reached down into my bra and pulled out the folded piece of paper. He took it from me and then spoke into the phone again.

"You can stand down for now."

I watched as he pocketed the phone and opened up the piece of paper. I watched him read it.

"As if kanji weren't stupid enough without your bad handwriting." He muttered.

"My handwriting is fine!" I protested. "Which bit can't you read?!" It was amazing how a minute ago I had been scared for my life and now I was indignantly protecting my handwriting of all things.

He didn't reply, but pocketed the piece of paper.

"If you write another thing like this, I will kill one of your friends." He said coldly. "Do you have a preference?"

"What?! You can't! They don't know anything!" I said angrily jumping to my feet.

"I'll take that as you don't." He said, finishing his tea and placing his cup down on the table. He then took a handkerchief out of another pocket and wiped the handle. I watched as he stood and walked to the door, opening it with the handkerchief covering the knob. He turned at the door and fixed me with those piercing blue eyes. "Be careful." And he left, closing the door behind him.

I rushed to my bag and found my mobile. I had to make sure both my friends were safe.

But as soon as Keiko answered and I heard her voice, I hung up and phoned Michiru and did the same. They were both alive.

I threw my phone onto the sofa and grabbed my keys before running out of the door. I could not see Naru on the stairs but I flew down them anyway. My apartment block was on the corner of the street. I looked down each way but I couldn't see over the heads of the other people walking. Damn it. Why was I so short?!

I spotted a public bin and ran over to it. Gingerly I climbed on top of it, much to the disgust of passers-by. I ignored them and looked down each of the streets.

Then I spotted him. A man sporting the black hair and long coat that he had been wearing the previous day was walking away from me about a block to my right. I jumped down from the bin and started running towards him.

I wasn't entirely sure why I was following him. I could imagine both of my friends scolding me for being rash, but I wanted to know more about this man and who he really was.

When I was about ten metres behind him, I slowed to a walk. He did not seem to be rushing, but merely striding purposely. I tried to look as if I was supposed to be walking this way and not looking suspicious, but I wasn't entirely sure I was managing it well.

At the end of this block, he turned right and I followed. We walked in a weird sort of procession down this street and then crossed the road. He turned left and I matched his movements.

But he was gone.

I could no longer see him.

Frowning, I continued to walk down the street. Perhaps I had just lost him in the crowd.

Then a hand covered my mouth and another dragged me into an alleyway. I screamed against the hand but it was no use. Why did I get myself into these situations?!

**Author's note: Well here is chapter 3! I hope you enjoyed it! I might get another chapter up tonight because I don't think I can leave Mai in such a dangerous situation! Please review with your thoughts and guesses for what might happen!**


	4. Chapter 4

I struggled to break away from my captor but it was to no avail.

"Calm down." A familiar low voice said and I relaxed in spite of myself and the situation I was in. "Why are you following me?" He asked as he released his hand from my mouth. I turned to face Naru and glared up at him defiantly.

"I wasn't following you." I said quickly but he only raised an eyebrow at me.

"Really? You just happened to be going this way as well?" He asked sceptically and I nodded. "So where were you going?"

"For a walk." I made up on the spot. "I wanted some air after a stressful day."

"And that's why you ran down the stairs after me and stood on a bin to see where I was going?" He said coldly. How had he known? I stuttered in response but he cut me off before I could form proper words. "I suggest you go home immediately. The streets can be dangerous at this time of night."

"Yeah! Yeah! Whatever you say Naru-chan!" I said loudly and started to back away from him but he shouted after me.

"What did you just call me?" He said fiercely. "Where did you hear that?!" His face had lost its mask of calm control. Had I stumbled onto something?

"Someone else calls you that?" I asked nervously. "I suppose I can't be the first person to come up with narcissistic Naru-chan."

My explanation seemed to put him slightly at ease and so I continued to move away from him.

He watched me go. Scowling, I started to walk home. Every now and then looking over my shoulder for someone following me; but there was no one. Or at least, I didn't see anyone.

I arrived home a few minutes later and let myself in. I shut the door behind me and rested against it.

So I couldn't write down what had happened for fear of my friend's lives and if I suddenly died in a freak accident, no one would question it really. Both my close friends would admit to me being a clumsy oaf and no one else would raise a fuss.

Slowly, my body sank down the door and I felt tears come to my eyes. I couldn't deal with it. I hadn't asked for this to happen! And there was no one I could talk to about it. Having everything written down somewhere had made me feel slightly better, like I wasn't alone, but now I couldn't even do that.

I was so scared that night that I barely slept and when I did, I still had one of my kitchen knives clutched in my hand. I didn't like how defenceless I felt in my own home. I still didn't know how he had gotten in in the first place!

Early on Saturday morning I woke with a jolt of fear; my dreams had been filled with strange black garbed men grabbing and hurting me.

Sighing, I looked around my bedroom. There was no one here to hurt me. I crept out of my bedroom, hand firmly wrapped around my knife and checked the rest of my flat, but I was alone. Damn I was getting paranoid.

I had agreed to meet Keiko and Michiru at the library today for a study session so we could teach our strengths to each other. I yawned and headed for a shower, hoping the cold water would wake me up.

It did not have the intended effect.

I left the shower wanting nothing more than to curl up in bed and sleep but I was too scared. Perhaps I should move apartments? But he would know. I don't know how, but he would know and follow me. And asking for a sleepover at someone else's house wasn't going to help, that might only put them in danger. What if he thought I was telling them?

I forced myself to eat some food even though I did not feel hungry at all, and then packed my school bag with the relevant books.

An hour or so later, I found myself in the local library and desperately trying to stay awake but it wasn't working very well. Keiko was explaining trigonometry to Michiru and I was supposed to be listening but I couldn't help but let my head droop slightly.

I could listen with my head on the desk, couldn't I?

Yes, this was comfortable and I could hear every word of her explanation…

"Mai? Mai? Are you alright?" Keiko was gently shaking my shoulder. I woke with a start and stared around with wide fearful eyes. "You fell asleep?"

"We're still in the library?" I asked, wiping sleepy dust from eyes.

"Yeah, it's almost lunchtime!"

"Oh! I'm sorry for falling asleep! I didn't get much rest last night!" I explained rapidly.

"It's fine!" Michiru reassured me. "I'm going to go and pick us up some lunch; do you want anything in particular?"

"No, I'm not fussy." I replied. I watched my friend go and then Keiko posed a question to me.

"What kept you up all last night? Don't tell me Shibuya-senpai finally texted you?!"

"No, he didn't text me." I replied, not meeting her eye for fear of her seeing that it had been that man that had kept me up until the small hours.

"Aww, that's a shame. He was so cute!" Keiko gushed.

Keiko looked like she was going to say something else, but I interrupted her before her questions could become any more awkward; I hated lying to my friends.

"I'm just going to pop to the loo."

Keiko nodded and I got up from the table. Hurriedly, I headed straight for the toilets and splashed water on my face. The cold liquid made me feel a little more awake.

It was at that moment a new thought struck me: I was in a library.

Libraries held all sorts of information, including records of people and where they lived and businesses and stuff. What if I could find out about him here?

I rushed out of the bathroom and down the corridors of books until I found the shelves regarding the local area. There were several directories covering all of Tokyo. I pulled out the ones for mine and the surrounding districts. One by one I checked the list of names, but there was no Shibuya Kazuya in any of them.

Cursing I began returning the books. I knew Shibuya Kazuya was an alias but still, I thought he might have used it for more than just talking to me and my friends. Once all the directories were back on their shelf, I walked back to Keiko.

"You were a while, are you okay?"

"Yeah, of course I am!" I replied earnestly. Michiru arrived back a moment later and we ate our lunch before beginning our biology homework.

Around 4pm, we packed up and headed our separate ways home. I remembered that I needed to pick up some food and diverted to the local convenience store.

Once I'd bought the ingredients for my dinner, I left the shop and began the short walk home. I entered my flat, put away my food and then checked the rest of my apartment for strange creepy men. But it was empty, not that that made me feel much better. I couldn't shake the feeling that I was being watched.

* * *

Meanwhile, several streets away, two men sat in a lonely hotel room. The younger was studying a crumpled piece of paper. The other was watching out of the window.

"Read this will you?" The younger man passed the piece of paper over. The elder took it and held it up to the light.

"Who wrote this?" He said tersely. "You said you weren't seen." He added, almost accusingly.

"What do you think?" The younger man asked, ignoring his companion's obvious concern and nodding towards the document.

"Right-handed and probably female; it's reasonably neat." The man read over it again. "They are very observant, not only to physical details but to the portrayal of your emotions."

"I thought so too from the kanji I could read."

"So who wrote this?" The elder man asked again.

"The apartment I was using as a sniping point last week was rented by a sixteen year old high school girl. By all accounts she shouldn't've been back for another few hours, but her school trip was cut short." The younger man explained quickly. "She walked in on me."

"And you didn't dispose of her?"

"She's an orphan." He said by way of an explanation.

"I see." The older man sighed. "What do you want to do about her?"

"She will keep quiet for now. She's quite protective of her friends." The younger man said quietly. "But she might be useful."

* * *

**Author's note: **

**I would usually liken writing characters in first person to wearing different items of clothing. For example, Lucy Heartfilia (Fairy Tail) would be my favourite pair of sweatpants; slip them on and no problems. Usually, Taniyama Mai would be a pair of jeans; mostly comfortable after a bit of a wriggle. Finally Oliver Davis would be like a corset; bloody awkward to get on and uncomfortable to wear. ****However after writing Emails, I have found I keep slipping back into Oliver-style writing and Mai has suddenly become difficult to write! Ah well, I will struggle on!**

**I don't know about the rest of the world, but in the UK, we have things like the Yellow Pages and the BT Directories which are books of business and peoples addresses/phone numbers. You can opt out of being in them, but that was the basis for Mai's search in the library!**

**Finally, I am struggling to see how I will fit a few of the other GH characters into this story. I think I've worked out Lin, Masako and probably Yasuhara and John. But I'd love to hear any suggestions for the others!**

**So please review and let me know what you think!**


	5. Chapter 5

On Sunday, I visited my parents' graves and told them in hushed whispers about Shibuya Kazuya. Of course I could not tell them the truth for fear of someone over hearing even though the graveyard was empty, so I spoke in a demented sort of code. Switching words for loosely related synonyms that would hopefully sound innocent to any eavesdroppers. I hoped that if they were watching me from the afterlife, that they understood the meaning behind my words.

On Monday, I woke early again having slept very little and decided to head to school promptly so I could finish my maths homework in the school library before registration and lessons started. However, I hadn't got very far on my journey when I heard a high pitched scream down a small side street.

There was no mistaking the fear in that scream.

And fear was something I had felt very accustomed to in the last week or so. I couldn't leave whoever it was alone facing who knows what. I turned and ran towards the sound of the cry. I could see a woman, who could not have been not much taller than I was with odd coloured hair. It looked like brown hair that had previously been dyed bright pink that had started to fade. She was plainly dressed and clutching a rucksack close to her chest as she whimpered in fear for her life.

The woman was backing into a wall as two men in navy hoodies that obscured their faces ganged up on her. A flash of light told me at least one of them was brandishing a knife.

"Hey!" I yelled, but they seemed unable to hear me so I picked up the pace. "Hey!" I tried again.

"Stop!" A harsh voice said from somewhere to my left. I had otherwise not paid much attention to my surroundings so was surprised when I looked round to see a tall man with dark hair that covered one of his eyes making a grab for me. Without stopping to think who this man was or why he might be yelling at me, I made a well-aimed kick at his legs that connected with his left ankle and then kept running towards the woman.

"Stop! Leave her alone!" I screamed as loud as I could and the two thugs finally heard me. They looked up to see me sprinting towards them. I registered fear in their eyes and they both turned and scarpered in the opposite direction.

"Mai!" That oh-so-familiar voice said from behind me. A voice that made me stop dead in my tracks. I turned to look down the barrel of a gun that was pointed directly between my eyes. Perhaps that's why the thugs had run in fear. "What are you doing here?" Naru asked forcefully as he lowered the weapon.

"I was helping that woman…" I turned to point at the lady I had seen before, but she was gone. When I looked back around, he was placing the handgun back into a holster hidden by his jacket. He sighed and I watched as he walked back to the other man; the man I had kicked who was now lying on the damp floor.

"Are you alright?" He asked him. "You're bleeding." It was true; there was fresh blood on his face.

"Just a cut and my ankle is throbbing." The injured man replied in the same harsh voice.

I rushed over to help.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realise he was with you! Are you okay?"

"It's fine." The other man said with cold fury in his eyes. I could feel the hatred emanating from his gaze, was this all because I'd kicked him? I was about to think that he was being rather petty considering the circumstances, but then I remembered the circumstances myself. I was pretty sure Naru was some sort of killer, if this man was with him, was he a killer too? Would he kill me for kicking him?

I backed away as Naru helped this other man to his feet. Even though he was limping it was clear to see he was a good three or four inches taller than Naru and at least a decade older.

"There's a clinic near the school." I offered the information in hope that it would help, not that I really thought two suspected assassins would use a local health clinic.

"It's fine." Naru said. "I suppose I should inform you that the school bell has rung."

"What?!" I pulled out my phone, glanced at the time and swore under my breath before sprinting away. I had left so early, how on earth was I now going to be late?

I arrived at school only five minutes later, but spent most of my day thinking about what had happened that morning.

Why had Naru been there? And not stopping those men from being obviously nasty to that woman? Unless he was supposed to be killing her? Or the men? Or something else entirely? And who was that other man? And why did he look like he hated me so much? I mean admittedly I had hurt him but he'd scared me! You shouldn't jump out at people like that and not expect some sort of repercussion!

It was all such a jumble.

I knew that Michiru and Keiko suspected something despite my reassurances that everything was fine. But I didn't know what else I could do. It was hard to pretend that I hadn't had a gun pointed at me this morning. I wasn't even sure if I had processed that fact properly.

That afternoon, I walked home from school alone as I had remained behind to do some homework in the library. Ever since Naru had broken into my apartment, I felt more comfortable in public places. I had not been walking long when a familiar low voice interrupted my thoughts.

"Taniyama-san."

I turned to see Naru standing a few metres away and I joined him. He was still wearing the same black coat as he had been wearing previously – did he not own any other clothes?

"How is that man?" I asked

"He'll be okay, but he's out of action for a few days." Naru said coldly. Together, we began walking towards my apartment.

"I'm sorry; I really didn't mean to hurt him! He frightened me!" I said earnestly but my words seemed to have no effect on him.

"He tried to prevent you from interfering."

"Yeah, I'm sorry. How do you know him?" I asked, wondering briefly if this was crossing some invisible line.

"Assistant."

"You help him with his work?"

"The other way around. He is the assistant. I am the boss."

That couldn't be right, could it? Naru was only seventeen from what he had said; that other man had to be at least ten years older than him?

"Right…" I muttered, not entirely sure how I was supposed to respond to this piece of information.

"My job this morning was severely delayed."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Again, it was so weird pretending that this was an ordinary conversation.

"It was delayed because of you and I want compensation."

At these words, I froze. What kind of man follows a girl around to demand compensation?

"What kind of…"

"Compensating me would impossible for you so you have only one choice. So I want you to work for me."

If I had been shocked before, it was nothing to how I felt now.

"Doing what?" I asked tentatively.

"Working as my assistant."

"So I'll help you with your work?!" I began spluttering; he wanted me to assist him in killing people?!

"Isn't that what you just heard?"

"What kind of work do you do?" I asked; was he going to admit it to me if I was to become his assistant?

Naru obviously saw my confusion and made to pull something out his pocket. I flinched back automatically, expecting the gun I had seen that morning, but it turned out to be a business card. He was holding it by the very edges of the card, presumably as to not leave fingerprints.

I took it and read the English words: _Shibuya Private Research._

Then underneath that read the kanji: _Shibuya Kazuya, private investigator._

"Private investigator?" I whispered. It would explain how he knew so many things but… It didn't answer all of my questions. I couldn't help but wonder, was this just a cover for his real profession?

"Of course, what else did you think I did?" Once again he sounded almost amused but he didn't wait for an answer. "I have written the address on the back of that." I turned the card over to read the address. "I expect you at 4pm tomorrow."

"Hang on…" But when I looked up, he had gone.

* * *

**Author's note: Well thank you everyone that has reviewed so far! It really does mean a lot to me! Please review this chapter and tell me all your thoughts about what's happening! I love hearing your theories! Sorry to everyone who's asked a question I haven't properly answered, but I don't want to give out spoilers! Please review :)**


	6. Chapter 6

"What do you think of her Lin?" The younger man asked as they sat once again in their hotel room.

"She's Japanese." Lin, the elder of the two, replied. The younger man rolled his eyes.

"Well observed."

"I fail to see how she will be of any use."

"As cover." The younger man explained. "Anyone looking at her won't suspect a thing. And if anything goes wrong, no one will miss her."

"That's true, Noll." Lin said quietly. "Who does she think we are?"

"Private investigators. I've set the office up as such." Noll said and Lin nodded.

"She's your responsibility then."

"I know."

* * *

It was only when I got home that I really thought about the gun. No one in Japan had guns. Well farmers did for hunting and the police did. But for an ordinary citizen to get one was nigh on impossible.

After some research on the internet, I found out that handguns – like the one he had had – weren't allowed to be owned by citizens at all, just some rifles and shotguns. In the process, I found out a lot about gun laws and the process of applying for a permit – it looked like a lot of effort.

I also searched for his company _Shibuya Private Research_, but there was nothing. So unless it was new, did it really exist?

After eating dinner, I continued my search, but suddenly I was finding results where my previous criteria had proved fruitless.

It was like a website for his business had appeared out of nowhere sometime during the twenty minutes or so that I was away from my laptop.

There was a picture of the building, directions to the office, an 'About' section, a contact form, a little about Shibuya Kazuya – though no picture – and then the option to see the entire website in English as well. The whole thing was very professional. Frowning, I sat back in my chair and read the paragraph about him.

**Shibuya Kazuya has been a lead investigator for three years, and prominent within the field before that. Despite his young age, he and his team have solved every case taken without fail. Specialities include missing persons and unsolved murders.**

And that was it. It wasn't exactly illuminating, though exactly what I expected of that narcissistic jerk.

But why had the webpage not been there before? Surely even if it had been down for maintenance, there would be some other record of it?

I returned to the search results. There were now several reviews of this place, some dating months back and all of them were positive.

Sighing, I shut down my laptop, and headed to bed. Something wasn't right, I could feel it.

Tuesday flew by and before I knew it, I was packing up my bag to head to his office. I hadn't told Michiru and Keiko were I was going, just in case, I didn't want them getting hurt.

Though I did feel a little more confident about going myself, I knew he had a gun that he was almost certainly not allowed. If I told the police, he'd be in a lot of trouble. I knew this was hardly leverage over him, but this knowledge might give him reason to pause – or alternatively, prevent him from hesitating pulling the trigger.

As I left the main school building, I passed a couple standing near the remains of the old school building. The man looked to be in his mid-twenties with very light brown hair, possibly a foreigner? It was hard to tell from this distance. The woman looked to be of the same age and had obviously dyed red hair but I couldn't see her face as she was speaking conspiratorially with the man.

I only realised I had slowed down to watch them when the man seemed to spot me. Nervously, I looked away and picked up the pace; starting towards the address on the back of the business card.

I had tried to protest yesterday that I doubted I would be able to get there for 4pm, and looking at the time, my suspicions were correct.

Even if he was a private investigator though, what on earth could I help him with?

It was yet another reason to doubt his story.

I arrived at 4:10pm, not too bad really. My heart was pounding against my ribcage as I ascended the stairs to his office. Words on the door read: _S.P.R: Shibuya Private Research_.

I knocked and entered. The office was minimalistic, a chair, two sofas and a coffee table, a small kitchen area and along the back wall were two doors, presumably leading to individual offices. There was a good view out of the window of the street below.

"You're late." His voice said. Naru was sat in a chair reading a little black book; he had not looked up upon my entry.

"Sorry, I tried to tell you yesterday that 4pm would be cutting it very fine but you'd gone."

"Do I have to search you?" He asked in an almost bored voice.

"What?!" I exclaimed.

"For wires? Bugs? Etc etc." The fact that he still hadn't looked up was starting to annoy me.

"Why would you have to do that? Especially if you are only a private investigator?" I tried to put as much scepticism into my voice as possible to show I wasn't falling for his little act.

"Do I have to search you?" He repeated, but before I could answer the door burst open.

"Geez! Why don't you ask her more politely?" The woman said as she entered. I recognised her; she was the woman from yesterday morning with the weird hair. But she was no longer scared and cowering, but standing tall and confidently. "When you ask someone for something, there's a thing called your tone of voice, you know?" She scolded Naru like I wasn't even there. "I keep telling you but you just don't have the ability to learn." Then she turned to me. "I'm sorry; this boy just doesn't know his manners." 'This boy'? Did this woman know that 'this boy' had a gun? I was sure she wouldn't be talking to him like that if she did!

"Madoka, would you please shut up? This conversation is going anywhere." Naru said, obviously iritated.

"Then please be more careful with the way you talk!" Then she finally introduced herself. "I'm Mori Madoka."

"How are you related to him?" I asked tentatively.

"I'm basically his teacher!"

"His teacher?" I asked incredulously. She taught him how to kill people?!

"I was the one who taught him about being a private investigator." She said cheerfully. I had to admit, her smile was slightly infectious, though Naru seemed immune to her charm.

"What?"

"I had him take you on because of my situation. I realise it's a bother, but thank you for helping him." And she bowed to me. I returned the bow. There was no way this woman was a killer. Was my initial assumption wrong? Was he really just an investigator who just didn't respect people's privacy and broke into their homes to snoop on people? Only now was I starting to doubt my original thoughts.

"You're too stupid to wire yourself and I know you haven't spoken to anyone else about this."

"You're scaring the girl!" Mori-san reprimanded. "He's only asking because we have to respect the privacy of our clients. Their privacy comes before all else you see!"

"Right…" I looked between the two people in front of me.

"Mai, tea." Naru said.

I saw Mori-san glare at him before speaking to me again.

"Don't make any for me, I was just popping by." And with that, she left.

I made tea with the things I found in the small kitchen area and brought Naru his beverage.

"She was woman yesterday morning. The one those two men were ganging up on." I said, breaking the otherwise very uncomfortable silence.

"Yes." He agreed.

"Why didn't you help her?"

"She is capable of dealing with such situations."

"But why was she in such a position in the first place?"

"She was gaining intel."

"And I stopped it." I suddenly felt rather guilty. But how was I to know?!

"Yes." He said and I waited for him to continue speaking, but he didn't. He merely kept reading his little black book.

"So what do you want me to do?" I asked apprehensively and he finally looked up.

"Filling." At my confused expression, he continued. "There is a box over there of files and tapes, I want you to alphabetise them and place them in that cabinet." He seemed incapable of keeping the patronising tone out of his voice.

"Aye sir!" I replied with as much sarcasm as I dared and turned on my heel to start my task.

"You are available at this time every day?"

"Yes." I replied as I opened the box.

"Good. And you are free at weekends?"

"Yes?"

"Then I expect you here." And with that, he stood up and walked into one of the two rooms leading off from the main, presumably his office. What?! Did he mean he wanted me here all the time?! Was this some perverse way of him stopping me from telling anyone what was happening? By working me to death?

"But I need time to do my homework!" I protested. He paused at the door.

"Judging from your test scores, I did not think you did homework."

"Hey!" I squawked. "That's mean!"

But he had already entered his office and closed the door.

* * *

**Author's note: So in the past 4 days I have watched the entire Ghost Hunt anime 3 times. I really need to get a life. Thank you everyone for your reviews, favourites and follows! They mean so much! Please review and tell me what you think of the story so far, any predictions you may have etc etc! I love hearing from you all :)**


	7. Chapter 7

And so I began my work. It was not difficult at all, just laborious and boring. Yet all of the items seemed kind of off.

All of the names in these case files were very generic. Surnames like Saito, Inoue, Tanaka and Nakamura. All of which are very popular surnames. It was the same for the clients' first names. If I didn't know better, I would have suspected that someone had copied a list of popular names into a random generator and created these documents as a result.

I tried reading the contents of the case files, but it was all in English. Cursing, I continued working and tried to ignore my rumbling stomach. I really ought to have thought ahead and brought extra food with me.

At around 8pm, Naru ordered me to make him more tea and I complied, stifling a yawn. I wasn't sure if it was just because the work I was doing was dull or just because I hadn't been sleeping well recently, but I was shattered. It didn't help that my stomach was still growling too.

I took the tea to his office and placed the cup on his desk. I tried to sneak a peek at the work he was doing, but it was all in English again. I'd forgotten he had said he was a foreigner considering how good his Japanese was, he sounded almost like a native. Judging by this constant use of English in the office, he had to be from an English speaking country. So that narrowed it down to America, Canada, Britain, New Zealand or Australia really, though I knew there were other countries that had English as its official language. He looked far too pale to be from Australia or New Zealand or the more southern areas of the US. But that didn't really help narrow it down. Then again, lots of other countries prioritised learning English so greatly, he could really be from anywhere. I didn't dare ask him though, I would just have to wait and listen to him speak in English, hopefully his accent would reveal his home country. Not that knowing that would divulge much about the mystery that was Shibuya Kazuya.

"Mai, I have set up your wages, you will received your first payment on Friday, and every Friday after that. I have set your pay at 1000 yen an hour." He said calmly. Suddenly I was very glad I took the job, that rate of pay wasn't bad considering what I was doing! It was a bit above the minimum wage anyway.

I was about to ask how he had managed to do this without my bank details, but then remembered he knew everything about me. What a git. Then a horrific thought struck me, did he know really personal things too? Like my bra size?! I could feel my face burning at the thought.

"Okay." I said in reply, trying to hold in some of what I was thinking.

"Did you not eat before coming here?" He asked before taking a sip of his tea. Was my stomach that loud? I cringed slightly.

"I didn't have time after school." I admitted.

"Idiot." He rolled his eyes and I glared at him. "4:30pm tomorrow, and eat before you get here."

"Thanks." I said grudgingly.

"You may leave."

I saluted him sarcastically before turning on my heel and heading out of the office. I grabbed my heavy school bag and started my long journey home. It was only as I left SPR that I realised I felt a lot safer when I knew exactly where that man was. I felt safer a few metres away from him – even though I knew he had a gun and that he probably knew how to use it well – than I did at home when I was probably miles away from him. Then again, if he did have a sniper, being that far away didn't make me any less of a target.

* * *

Taniyama Mai did not know that she had someone's crosshairs fixed on her at that very moment. That she could be seen through a high powered scope as she was changing to get ready for bed.

"Do you think she knows anything?" The woman asked of her companion as they sat in a cold apartment.

"I doubt it." The long haired male replied. "I suspect she's just someone he's using."

"She fits the profile I suppose." The redhead agreed. "Orphan, not many friends…"

"But that profile also describes him, don't you think?"

"They are hardly the same. She doesn't run a suspicious business that just sprung out of nowhere, does she?"

"It's always the ones you don't expect it to be." The man said calmly. "But I reckon we can get away without watching her tonight. She's going to bed."

"You think it's safe?"

"Yeah, we're sending our plant in soon anyway. Besides you need your beauty sleep you old hag."

The redhead punched the man on the arm and stalked off, ignoring his mock cries of pain.

"That hurt!" He complained loudly.

The woman only turned her nose up at him in reply and left, leaving him to pack up their equipment.

* * *

"What did you think of her?" The tall black haired man asked from his perch by the window as his female companion came out of the bathroom, towelling her newly dyed black hair.

"She'll do the job he wants her for. She seemed nice enough." The woman replied.

There was a few minutes silence as she wrapped her hair up in the towel and finished dressing. The man occasionally snatched glances of the young woman, but every time he looked away muttering in an inaudible voice to himself, as if reprimanding himself for looking in the first place.

"Where do they think you are now?" He asked finally as the woman removed the towel from her head and began brushing out her newly black hair.

"They tracked my plane to South Korea, but after that they lost me. I had tickets to Australia and Dubai from and I don't think they know which I took. Though we can't ignore the fact that they might've figured I have more than one passport. They not completely stupid." She said calmly. "I should probably cut my hair. What do you think?" She gestured to her hair as she studied her reflection in the mirror.

"I preferred it pink." The man said from the window.

The woman laughed softly. She had spotted his stolen glances, regardless of how subtle he had thought he had been, and had the circumstances been different… Well, they would never know.

"Why do you think he picked her?" She asked after another minute or so of silence.

"She fits the bill; she doesn't stand out too much." The tall man replied. "And she's an orphan."

"Yes, an orphan." The woman agreed with knowing smile. She pulled up a chair and sat down, facing her companion.

"Well it is better that way, isn't it?" The man said, raising an eyebrow as if to make a point. "If something goes wrong… Dealing with those consequences would be a lot of effort."

"I don't think that's the only reason that he picked her." The woman said quietly.

"He knows better than that." The man replied almost aggressively.

"No, not that." The woman laughed. "I think he relates to her, as a fellow orphan. She could genuinely do with the money; I think he's trying to help."

"Really?" The man asked sceptically.

But the woman only shrugged.

* * *

So that was how my life went for the rest of the week. Going to school, studying all day, going to the office, filing things, making tea, going home, eating, cramming in some homework and finally sleeping. It was thoroughly exhausting, even if it was going to make my finances a lot easier.

However on Friday, Naru called me into his office at around 7pm.

"Do you want tea?"

"No." He said, looking up from his work. "I will pick you up tomorrow at 10am from outside your apartment. Dress nicely, as if you are going on a date."

"Why?" I asked, completely nonplussed.

"Because I have seen the contents of your wardrobe and know you are capable of looking acceptable. I need you to look acceptable tomorrow." He said in a bored voice. Hang on what?! He had been through my clothes as well? So he did know my bra size?! This guy is such a pervert.

Trying to ignore how violated I felt, I asked another question.

"Where are we going?"

"We are going house hunting."

* * *

**Author's note: So occasionally, I try and slip in references to other fandoms I am part of, and I just want you all to know, if you ever spot one - or think you have spotted one - please point it out in the review because it makes me very happy! I know I have at least three in this fic so far...**

**As usual, I would love to hear your thoughts about this! So please review :D**


	8. Chapter 8

I decided very early on Saturday morning that I would never admit to how long it took me to get ready for my day with Naru. He had said to dress for a date. But I had never really been on a proper date before.

I decided against trousers. While they are practical, they weren't very cute. That narrowed it down to a skirt or a dress. A skirt would be less fuss but a dress would probably look nicer.

I ended up choosing a plain khaki mini skirt and matched it with a soft creamy-coloured cashmere jumper and my black winter boots with tights. My outfit wasn't too flashy, but I liked to think it looked like I'd made some effort. Plus, my winter boots were honestly the most comfortable things I had ever worn and would be easy to run in, if the situation arose. Not that I thought it would, but I never knew what to expect when it came to this man.

At 10am, a small red city car appeared outside my apartment and when I went down to it, Naru was sitting in the driver's seat. The first thing I noticed was that he wasn't wearing all black, but beige chinos and a navy shirt. It was weird to see him in clothing of a colour other than black.

"You have to be eighteen years old to have a driver's licence in Japan." I pointed out as I climbed in.

"What are you talking about?"

"You said you were seventeen?"

He pulled an aged black leather wallet out of his pocket and opened it. From inside, he produced a Japanese driving licence and passed it to me.

I took it and read the contents. It told me that he was eighteen years old as of about six months ago, that he'd had his licence for about three months and most confusingly, that his name was Narumi Kazuo.

"So were you lying before? Or is this lying?" I asked, frowning at him as he took it back.

"What did I say about questions you don't want to know the answer to?"

"But I do want to know the answer to this one." I protested.

But he didn't respond.

Instead, he started the car and began driving us to an unknown location.

"So am I to call you Narumi Kazuo? Or Shibuya Kazuya?" I asked, feeling this was a reasonable thing to question.

"Stick to Naru." He replied curtly.

"Is that a real nickname of yours? Only you seemed shocked when I first called you that."

But once again, he didn't answer me.

"Am I allowed to know what the plan is for the day?" I tried again after a short silence.

"We will be going to see three houses, and then going for a drink in a café."

"Why?"

"My parents are looking for somewhere to live around here; I am scouting the area for them." He said.

"Why am I coming though?"

"Don't you think it's natural for a young man to invite his girlfriend while doing these sorts of things? Besides, your input to the matter would no doubt be appreciated." He said and I spluttered in shock.

"What are you talking about?!" I replied quickly. "I am not your 'girlfriend'! I never agreed to that!"

If he hadn't been driving, I think he would have rolled his eyes.

"It's a cover Mai, for my real intentions, but it is the story we will be sticking to." He said coldly. "If you can't cope with that, then just stay quiet for the day."

"What are your real intentions?"

"You don't want to know the answer."

I scowled at him. I did want to know the answer and he full well knew it, but I didn't see any point in pushing the matter. So I tried another line of enquiry.

"You went through my entire apartment didn't you?" I didn't need him to answer this question, so I asked another. "Did you even go through my private things?"

"Like what?"

"Like my underwear?" I asked flippantly, hoping against hope that he hadn't.

I thought he wasn't going to answer, as he paused for a moment before speaking again.

"B60." He said and I felt my face burn as he reeled off my bra size.

"Anything could have been in that drawer!" I squealed at him. "I could have had my sanitary products in there for all you knew!"

"No, they were in the drawer underneath." He replied calmly, as if it didn't bother him.

"You jerk!" I folded my arms and stared out of the window, oblivious to the smirk on his face.

"So I am a jerk for looking in your underwear drawer? But not for breaking into your apartment, holding a knife to your throat or pointing a gun at you?" He asked, sounding amused.

"Yes." I huffed defiantly, not looking round.

"You need to sort out your priorities."

"My priorities are just fine."

He didn't say anything else until he had parked the car outside a large modern looking house.

"Stay in the car." He said. I turned to look at him, but he was pulling a pair of thin framed glasses out of a pocket and putting them on. He climbed out and walked around the car and opened the door for me. He offered me his hand and I took it.

The glasses had the effect of making him look older than he was – or rather how old I thought he was, as I could no longer be sure – but he certainly didn't look bad in them. Then again, this guy could probably look good in anything.

In the time it had taken him to walk around the car, he had hitched that fake smile of his back on his face.

Naru locked the car, and together we began to walk up the drive to the house. He had taken my hand and led me up the path, occasionally throwing glances down at me as if he was genuinely infatuated. I had a feeling that anyone looking at us wouldn't suspect a thing unless I did something daft and gave it away.

So I grinned back up at him, it wouldn't be so hard to pretend when I had such a handsome man holding my hand.

A woman, presumably the estate agent, greeted us at the house and showed us round. I let Naru deal with all the questions and merely peered around curiously. I did throw in the odd comment about how nice everything looked, but I stayed out of any serious conversation.

After about twenty minutes, we left.

Naru lead me back to the car and opened my door for me again. Then he joined me in the car and drove off.

"Well done." He said.

"I don't understand." I replied.

"That doesn't surprise me, but what don't you understand?"

"Why everyone else doesn't see though your smile." Before he said anything though, I continued. "Your mouth might be smiling, but your eyes are always cold."

Once again, he didn't reply.

A few minutes later, we parked again and repeated the whole façade.

Between the second and third properties, we did not speak at all. I think he was annoyed at me for pointing out the flaw in his facial expressions.

However, when we reached the last house, the aura around Naru changed slightly. His interest seemed slightly more genuine than before.

"You like this place?" I asked as we walked up to the front door.

"It's a beautiful setting, don't you think?" He replied. It was true, the area was nice.

A woman not much older than me answered the door.

"Hello, I am Morishita Noriko." She greeted us. "The estate agent couldn't make it, but please come in anyway."

Once inside we slipped off our shoes and put on guest slippers.

"I would offer to show you around, but I'm afraid I've hurt my ankle, so please just take yourselves around." She said, indicating her bandaged ankle. "When you've finished, I'll be in here if you have any questions." She pointed to the lounge. "Take as much time as you need."

Her eyes also didn't match her smile, but not in the same way Naru's did. His eyes were cold; this woman's eyes were full of sadness.

So we began our way around the house. It was larger than the other two properties we'd seen that morning. I glanced around almost empty rooms; they had obviously already begun moving out. The only room that seemed untouched was that of a child. There were toys all over the floor, and a blonde doll sitting on the bed. Naru entered this room and headed straight for the window to admire the view, but I took more notice of the drawings that had been stuck up on the wall.

One that caught my eye was of a girl with brown hair holding the hand of a blonde haired girl in a reddish dress. Behind them were lots of other stick figure children. At the top of the crayon drawing read 'Ayami and Minnie and our friends' in childish hiragana.

"What do you think?" Naru asked, holding his hand out to indicate he wanted me to join him. I took his hand and looked out of the window. You could see the entire street from this point.

"It's a good view."

"It is." He agreed and then led me back out of the room and down to the lounge.

"Are you done already?" Morishita-san asked.

"Almost, do you mind if I look around the garden?" Naru asked.

"Go ahead; the key should be in the lock." She replied. Naru let go of my hand and headed towards the back door, I was about to follow but then hesitated.

"What's the asking price?" I asked in hope of working out what sort of money Naru had, if he was really thinking about purchasing this place for some reason. Morishita-san replied with a surprisingly small quantity. "Why is it so low?"

"We are looking for a quick sell." She said sadly, but continued at my confused expression. "My niece died a few weeks ago. We have no need for such a big house without her here."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be, it was an accident." She said with a sad smile. "Ayami-chan was always a lively child, but she wasn't the strongest swimmer. I had told her so many times not to play around that pond…" She trailed off. "Your boyfriend? He had the same dead look in his eyes as I see in my brother's, has he lost someone recently?"

Her question threw me slightly; I had always viewed Naru's expression as cold and unfeeling, never as 'dead'. Perhaps Morishita-san had a point…

"No, that's just how his face is." I replied with a wry smile.

Before anything else could be said though, Naru had reappeared.

"Well I've seen everything I want to, are you content Mai?"

"Yes." I turned back to Morishita-san. "Thank you very much."

She made to get up from the sofa, but Naru halted her movements.

"Its fine, we'll show ourselves out. You should rest that ankle."

"Thank you." She replied gratefully and we left her in the living room.

However as we opened the door to leave, someone was already standing there, hand poised as if about to knock. He was a short man, not much older than I was, with blonde hair and baby blue eyes. He was dressed conservatively, but smiling none the less.

"I'm looking for Morishita Noriko-san?" He asked in what I guessed to be a Kansai accent.

We were saved the trouble of answering though, as Morishita-san had hobbled over.

"Father John! Thank you so much for coming to visit." She said. We bowed and left, leaving Morishita-san to her next guest.

Once back in the car, Naru removed the glasses and pocketed them.

"Did you know about her niece?"

"That she drowned in the garden pond? Of course."

"It's horrible." I shuddered at the thought. Drowning had to be a horrible way to go. Though perhaps burning would be worse.

Naru did say anything, but instead drove us to yet another location. It was nearing lunchtime.

"Where are we going now?"

"A café."

"Why?"

"Because my mother would call me a lousy date if I didn't take you to lunch after dragging you around several houses." Naru said coldly. "And some of us have standards we like to meet."

"Is that a real mother?" I asked, not expecting a reply, but he surprised me.

"Of sorts."

And I was so shocked; I didn't think to ask anything else.

Not long after that, we arrived at a café. Naru bought us lunch and drinks and we ate mostly in silence.

However, just when we were about to leave, two people entered the café that I certainly wasn't expecting to see: Keiko and Michiru.

"Mai! You didn't say you were going to be here!" Keiko exclaimed. "And you're with Shibuya-senpai!"

My two friends sat down with us before I could protest.

"Explain!" Michiru demanded mischievously of me.

"We were just getting some lunch…" I stuttered in shock, gesturing to our empty plates. Fortunately Naru took over for me.

"I asked Mai for some help and she was kind enough to assist me. This lunch is my way of thanking her." He said, smiling charmingly.

"You didn't tell us he was taking you on a date!"

"It's not a date!" I protested as Naru spoke over me.

"I only invited her yesterday."

It was then that I realised that these two did not know that he was my new boss. I had told them both I had got a new job to explain my absence from after school meet ups, but never told them more than it was a job filling things in an office in Shibuya.

"Aww, that's so kind of you!" Michiru gushed. "Especially after the week she's had! Did she tell you about her new boss?"

"No, she didn't." And Naru looked at me. I looked away, my cheeks burning from embarrassment.

"She was telling us about him yesterday lunch!" Keiko continued. "About how he's a bossy know-it-all who's been working her to death!"

"Really?" Naru sounded amused. "What else did she say about him?" He made eye contact with me and I figured I had probably just lost my job.

"Not a lot." Keiko surmised. "She spent the rest of lunch fuming; practically had steam coming out of her ears!" She giggled.

"So what are you two doing here?" I asked, trying desperately to change the subject and salvage my job.

"Just grabbing a drink before we go shopping!"

"That sounds fun."

"Well I better be off." Naru said. "Would you me to take you home?" He asked me.

"Oh yes, don't let us interrupt your date!" Keiko and Michiru both got up and waved goodbye before heading towards the counter. I saw Keiko mouth the words 'tell us about it later'.

I groaned and followed Naru out.

"You know they are going to be teasing me for ages about this?" I said to him as we climbed back in the car.

"So?"

"So? It's embarrassing!"

But Naru only rolled his eyes and started driving.

He parked outside my apartment, but prevented me from getting out of the car.

"I need you to promise me something."

"Okay?"

"If anyone asks about me, tell them the truth, no matter what." He said seriously, staring at the steering wheel. I had a feeling he definitely wasn't talking about Keiko and Michiru, but something a lot more serious.

"Okay." I agreed nervously. "Is that why you won't tell me things? So I can't tell others?"

"Partly." He said quietly. "Mostly to protect you."

He climbed out of the car before I could say anything and walked me up to my front door.

"You didn't have to walk me up." I said quietly.

"If this was a real date I would have to."

"If this was a real date you would have to kiss me goodbye." I said without thinking. Then realised the implications of what I had just said and hastily rectified the matter. "Good thing it isn't a real-"

But he had cut me off with a soft kiss on the cheek.

"You can have tomorrow off as I suspect you will need that long to stop blushing. Besides I wouldn't want to work you to death now, would I? I'll see you on Monday." He said, and with that, he turned and walked away.

I held a hand up to my cheek and touched the spot where he his lips had touched me.

Later on though, thinking back on the events of the day, that as he was leaving, I might've seen him smile.

* * *

**Author's note: I actually made a list of things so I wouldn't forget everything I wanted to say.**

**1) To everyone who has reviewed as a Guest, seriously, get yourself an account! It means you get email updates every time one of the stories you follow updates. Also, it means I can answer your questions privately! It's good all round!**

**2) Someone asked about my update plan. Basically, I write whenever I have free time or am avoiding real work and upload once I have over 1500 words or have reached a good ending point. Uni starts again this week, so I doubt I will get something up every day, but I will try not to make you wait too long!**

**3) Someone asked about Mai learning English/getting other abilities. She already learns English at school, so I don't know if she's going to make extra effort. As for other abilities - there's no psychic stuff going on here - I'm sure she might end up picking up one or two skills. But I don't want to make her suddenly amazing at fighting or something daft like that, it wouldn't be realistic!**

**4) B60 bra size in Japan relates to 28B in UK/US sizes, just for reference. I figured Mai is pretty small generally so it would fit.**

**5) Finally, do you ever get the idea that some people don't read author notes? I have received a few reviews on the last chapter of Emails saying things like "I can't wait for the next chapter" and they don't seem to realise that it's finished... *awkward*.**

**ANYWAY PLEASE REVIEW :)**


	9. Chapter 9

A day may come when I would actually be on time for work, when I would be organised enough to sort out some food before I arrived and that I wouldn't get distracted by other things before I got there.

But it is not this day.

I had spent the day at school being interrogated by my friends about the so-called date. And my Monday did not get much better after that. When I arrived, the tall man that I had kicked was sitting on the sofa holding a crutch and scowling down at the piece of paper he was reading.

"I'm sorry I'm late!" I called as I entered the office. The tall, dark haired man looked up at me. I could only see half of his face as his hair covered the other half, but the side I could see was scowling. "Uh, I'm sorry about before…" I muttered awkwardly. If anything his glare intensified.

"Mai, tea." Naru's voice floated through from his office.

"Would you like some?" I offered the scowling man timidly.

"That will be quite unnecessary." He said before standing up and limping into the other private office.

Sighing, I went and made tea. I knocked before opening Naru's office door and brought his drink inside.

"I'm sorry I'm late again, only I heard something on the news when I was picking up some food." I said conversationally, keeping my tone light.

"Quite frankly, Mai, I don't give a damn."

But I held my ground; he might give a damn if he knew what I had heard.

"There was a report about an exploding car." I said, and though Naru did not look up from his work, I saw him pause in his actions. "The reports on the news said it was probably a faulty car part or something that caused it to happen, but they aren't sure yet. The police aren't ruling out foul play. But there was only one victim"

"Why are you telling me this?"

Time to play the trump card.

"It was a small red city car."

Just like the one we had used on Saturday, I continued mentally, surely I did not have to say that bit outloud.

Before I could judge his reaction though, a voice spoke from behind me.

"_What is she talking about?_" It was the tall man and he was speaking in English. Damn, why didn't I pay more attention in class?

"Nothing Lin." Naru replied in Japanese, was it for my benefit?

"_It was a supposed to be a small explosion, not a big news piece!_" Lin, the tall man, seemed very angry. My head turned back and forth, watching the conversation like a tennis match.

"_It was small_." Ah! Finally a piece of English I understood, not that it helped.

"_You were only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!_" Lin growled.

"Drop it Lin. There's nothing that can be done now."

"_You're getting careless_." And with that, Lin stalked off.

"What was that about?" I asked. But Naru only raised an eyebrow at me. "Right, don't ask questions." I muttered as I rolled my eyes and headed back out to begin the never ending filing.

* * *

"Are you sure about this?" The redhead was asking the young woman. "You don't have to do this?"

"Of course I am sure." She replied snidely.

"If at any time you think your cover is blown, hit the panic button and we will get you out of there. We will take this guy down eventually, but he is not worth your life, okay?" A man, the eldest of the three, said calmly.

"Of course, I'm not stupid."

"Do you have a plan?" The redhead asked, obviously concerned.

The young woman stood up, straightened out her kimono and checked her black hair in the mirror.

"Yes." She said, smiling slightly.

"What are you going to do?" The man asked.

She laughed softly from behind the sleeve of her kimono. The two partners watched the young woman turn to leave without stopping her and she spoke over her shoulder as she did so.

"I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse."

* * *

There's no place like home, I thought tiredly as I entered my flat and crashed onto the sofa.

So I never received a straight answer about the car incident. See I probably wouldn't have thought much of it at all, but it had happened quite close to one of the properties we had seen on Saturday.

But I really felt sorry for the poor guy inside the car. They hadn't been able to identify the body yet because it was so badly damaged. Thankfully, they hadn't provided pictures of the body in the news reports or I doubt I would have slept again ever.

I honestly felt too tired for homework and not hungry enough for a proper dinner. So I picked up some fruit and made my way to my bedroom to get ready for bed. An early night would probably do me good.

As I made to shut my curtains, I stared out at the city beyond the safety of the glass window. Tokyo was bright even at night, shimmering like the centre of a galaxy. I sighed, shut the curtains and changed.

I hadn't expected Naru to act any differently today. He had said on Saturday that it was all just a cover and his general behaviour otherwise hadn't led me to believe there was anything else behind that kiss than making the cover convincing.

But he had smiled as he walked away.

That I had seen, or at least, I was 99% sure I had seen it. Yet I hadn't seen his eyes, so was he smiling for his cover or was he genuinely flattered I had blushed like crazy?

I mean, regardless of the fact that he was a narcissistic jerk who didn't tell me anything, he was still a handsome young man who had given me my first real kiss, even if it was only on the cheek. I was allowed to blush for that, wasn't I? It was acceptable, right?

It's not like I had any feelings for him at all.

Not at all.

I finished my fruit and found my Japanese literature reading book. Nothing like a good book to take my mind off things or so I'd thought.

I couldn't help but think back to that conversation in the office. When Lin and Naru had been speaking in English, I couldn't place Lin's accent. It certainly wasn't like any Japanese person who I had heard speaking English, but I didn't know what it was. Naru, on the other hand, was distinctly English. That had been easy to recognise.

I had seen enough American films to recognise the accent, as in American films, they had always used English actors to play the baddies. While I could rarely understand what they were saying in these films, I had to admit, the accent did fit the part.

So was Naru a baddie? An evil villain? An assassin?

I just didn't know.

However the following day, everything got a lot more interesting.

I arrived late for work again, not to anyone's surprise.

But to my surprise, there was someone there when I arrived that wasn't Naru or Lin or even Mori-san.

She was a young woman no taller than me with jet black hair and an annoyingly pretty face. She could have been made of porcelain, like a doll. The kimono she wore did not do anything to refute this idea.

"Hello, I am here to see Shibuya-san." She said to me. Despite being my height, she was still talking down her nose at me. And how on earth did she know I worked there? I was still in my school uniform!

"Of course, I'll just get him."

I quickly dumped my school bag and coat and rushed to knock on Naru's door. I entered and closed it behind me

"There's someone here to see you." I said as he looked up. "She was here when I got here."

"Who is she? There were no appointments made for today."

"I have no idea."

He sighed and rose from his chair.

"Tea." He said, and followed me out of his office.

I hurried to the kitchen to make tea for him and our guest. It was odd, I guessed she had to be a client, and though I had worked for him for over a week now, I had yet to see a client come in. Obviously he had to have had some clients because there were so many bloody files to sort through! But no one had ever come in while I was working in the office before.

I brought the drinks in and placed them on the coffee table. Naru was sitting with a clipboard.

"You can begin your filing now." He said dismissively to me and I nodded. Fortunately, I could hear every word of his conversation from where I stood sorting through yet more folders.

"You are Shibuya-san?" The young woman asked. She was batting her eyelids at him and hiding her mouth behind her kimono.

"Yes, and you are?"

"Hara Masako." She revealed.

"And what business brings you here today, Hara-san?"

"I want to employ your services."

"What is the case?" Naru asked curtly. He seriously needed to improve his way with people, I thought. But his eyes were full of suspicion of this girl.

But she did not answer. She giggled behind her sleeve and looked up at him, her face unreadable.

"Have we met somewhere before?"

"No, this the first time we've met."

"Is that so…" She said. "Perhaps we should continue this conversation more privately then."

If Naru was put off by this, he did not show it.

"Mai, ask Lin to man the front of the office for me." He said without looking round. I hastened to do as I had been asked and watched the two adults stand and walk into Naru's office, leaving the tea I had made undrunk on the table. What on earth was going on?

* * *

**Author's note: Well there are 5 references/quotes in this chapter alone so to those of you that have looked for them when I mentioned them, I think they should be quite obvious? But I thought that about the others... Perhaps when I finish this I will post a list of them all for those seekers amongst you!**

**I'm really sorry for not updating yesterday I wasn't having a very good day... Chances are I won't get a chapter up tomorrow either as I have an evening Japanese class! But I should do on Thursday!**

**Well I hope you enjoyed this! I want to hear all your thoughts about it, so please review!**


	10. Chapter 10

When I repeated Naru's words to Lin, he nodded and left the office and took a seat on the sofa. I returned to my work, occasionally glancing at the tall man. He was reading yet another piece of paper with great interest and making marks on it in pencil, though I could not see what they were.

Hara-san and Naru were in his office for only ten minutes.

I was just clearing the undrunk tea away when Hara-san left, looking smug. Naru stood in the door of his office, his face completely blank. And for the first time, I agreed with Morishita-san; his eyes did look dead.

"I'm leaving for the night, Lin, you will take over. Mai, go home." He said, as soon as Hara-san had shut the door behind her. Lin looked up at Naru, not quick enough to hide the look of alarm that had flashed across his face.

Naru returned to his office for his coat and left without another word, completely ignoring Lin's protests.

"Go home Taniyama-san." Lin said after Naru had shut the door behind him.

"But…" I began to protest.

"Go home." He repeated. I did not argue any more, but gathered up my things and left as quickly as possible. What on earth had that all been about?

If I had to guess, I would have said Hara-san's case was so urgent that he had to rush out immediately. But if that had been the case, why on earth had he not explained to Lin?

The only upside to the situation was that I had the whole evening to do homework. Goodie.

And so I worked all evening, catching up on every piece of homework I had been given and hadn't completed yet. I paused only to eat some dinner. Pleased with my evening, I headed to the bathroom to brush my teeth and get ready for bed. I brought my laptop to my room with the plan of watching something before sleep overcame me.

I switched off the main bedroom light, turned on my bedside lamp and started browsing for something to watch.

I knew, about ten minutes into Ju-on: The Grudge, that watching a horror film had been a very bad idea. What is it about humans that they like getting a kick out of scaring themselves to death? I have always been a sucker for scary stories and while Ju-on: The Grudge isn't particularly scary, it has a few good moments that would make anyone jump.

However, the last time I had watched a film like this, I had had Keiko and Michiru sat either side of me. We had all been squealing and giggling and it had been okay, because we weren't alone. Now though, I was in my apartment by myself. And I was suddenly very aware of how many noises my apartment made at night.

I could hear the pipes groaning like old men and the floorboards of the apartment above me squeaking as my neighbours moved about.

And I could hear something else.

It sounded like footsteps.

But not those of my neighbours

And it was far too close to be someone outside the apartment.

I paused the film and listened carefully; letting my hand slip under my pillow to the knife I kept there.

There was a soft cluttering sound from outside my bedroom door.

There was someone in my apartment.

I crept out of bed as quietly as I could, holding the knife firmly in my hand. All the sounds I had heard while watching the movie were amplified now. The groans and creaks were louder and my ears were trying to pinpoint their locations precisely.

I slipped out of my room and down the corridor. I could barely see anything as the lights were off and the curtains were shut. My hands fumbled for the light switch. I clicked it on to see a dark figure in my kitchen.

"Get out!" I said firmly and a hundred times braver than I felt as I pointed the knife at them.

"Put the knife down Mai." A cold voice replied.

"Naru?"

My hands dropped to my side and I rushed over, leaving the knife on the table.

"What on earth are you doing here?" I asked. It was only then I noticed he was leaning heavily on the worktop next to the sink. "What's wrong?"

"Where is your first aid kit?" He asked, ignoring my questions.

"I thought you'd gone through my entire apartment?" I asked, scowling as I located the first aid kit from a lower drawer. "And you can remember my bra size but not where the first aid kit was?"

I handed him the little green box and watched him struggle over to a chair.

"What happened?" I asked in genuine concern.

"Don't ask questions you don't want to know the answer to." He replied and I sighed.

"You mean that you don't want me to know the answer to."

"Same thing." He growled, pulling off his coat and lifting his scarlet stained shirt up to inspect his wound.

"Oh my!" I gasped. The right side of his stomach was covered in blood.

"It's just a flesh wound." He said. "I need to clean the blood away."

I turned to find some kitchen roll as he found a roll of plaster tape from the first aid kit and measured out the required length.

"Hold your shirt up." I said calmly.

"It's fine." He said, making to take the paper. But I held it out of his reach. He scowled again and lifted his shirt and I began cleaning the cut. He had been right; it wasn't deep and once cleaned up, looked more like a large paper cut as the incision had been so neat. Once washed with water, I took an antiseptic wipe from the first aid kit and used that on it. Naru did not wince, but I felt his body tense as the antiseptic stung. He passed me the strip of plaster; I peeled off the backing and stuck it over his cut.

"That should do it." I said. "How did you get in?"

"If I told you that, you would prevent it happening again."

"Exactly." I muttered darkly.

We stood together in the kitchen for a minute before he spoke again.

"I can't leave yet, not until the coast is clear." He said finally, looking away from my gaze.

"You're welcome to stay." I said politely. "I was watching a film…" I trailed off awkwardly.

"I am not watching films with you." He said curtly.

"Fine." I glared up at him. "Don't then!" I turned on my heel and stormed back to my room, closing the door behind me and leaving that mysterious man in my kitchen.

It was at this point that I really wished I had a lock on my bedroom door and made a mental note to purchase one at the next given opportunity.

"Mai?" I heard his voice float through to my room. I decided not to answer. Honestly, you can't just turn up in someone's house, expect them to patch you up after what I would have guessed to be a knife fight and then be rude to them! I thought English people were supposed to be polite. "Mai?" He repeated my name.

"What?" I replied from my bed, determined that I would not move from the safety of my duvet.

"Tea."

* * *

"I'm still not sure about this." The redhead said.

"What about it?" Her companion asked, brushing his long light brown hair out of his eyes.

"Using her." The female admitted. "Her associations are less than savoury."

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend." The man said calmly.

"I hope so." She sat back thoughtfully.

* * *

**Author's note: Thank you to everyone who has updated! I'm sorry this is a bit filler-y and short. I keep thinking "next chapter the thing will happen" and then I write it and haven't actually got to it yet. Perhaps next chapter... Who knows...**

**Please review with your thoughts! I'd love to hear what you think Naru will get up to in Mai's apartment :P Plus I've had an awful day so reviews would cheer me up. I will try and write more tomorrow night and give you all a nice long chapter to make up for this one being so short!**


	11. Chapter 11

So I made the narcissistic jerk his tea and returned to my bedroom without saying a word. However, much to my annoyance, he followed me.

"What do you want?" I asked as I climbed back under my duvet.

He did not reply. What a git.

Instead, he sat down on the other side of my bed with his tea and waited expectantly.

"I thought you didn't want to watch films with me." I said, annoyed.

"That was until I remembered how awful your taste in books was."

"My taste in books is just fine!" I protested. But once again, he did not reply. "Is it because you can't read kanji?" I asked but he still didn't answer. He only drank some of his tea.

Scowling I began the film and sat back to watch it. About five minutes in though, Naru interrupted.

"Something is about to make you jump." He said calmly between sips of tea.

And sure enough, ten seconds later, something happened that would have made me jump. That is, it would have if he hadn't pointed it out to me.

"Are you going to do this the whole film?" I scowled.

"It's a more interesting past time than the film."

"Jerk."

But he shut up after that – thankfully.

And so we watched the film in silence until my head began to drop. I didn't even remember falling asleep.

* * *

The young man was slightly amused at the sight of his assistant asleep on his shoulder. He finished the tea and placed the cup on the bedside table. Then he shut down the laptop and manoeuvred it to the floor.

Gently, placing his arms around the young woman, he shifted her position so she was lying in a more natural position and tucked the duvet over body.

She mumbled something in her sleep that the young man did not catch but as she shifted her hand came to rest on his and he left it there perhaps a moment longer than he should have.

Then he left the room with the teacup. In the kitchen, he washed the cup and wiped it carefully, then collected all the bloody tissues and placed them in a bag.

He took one look around the apartment and spotted the knife the young girl had threatened him with earlier. Sighing, he picked it up with his handkerchief and returned it to her room, placing it on her bedside table.

And then he left.

* * *

"Saito-san, what do we have here?" The redhead asked as she strode onto the site.

"Where's Takigawa-san?" Saito-san, a small weak looking man, asked in return.

"Just parking the car." The redhead gestured to the building in front of them.

"Well I would call it a mass-murder. But I think extermination might be a better word." Saito-san replied.

"Who are the victims?"

"Believed to be an entire clan of one of the yazuka families, though admittedly a smaller clan." Saito-san replied nervously. "Matsuzuki-san, whoever did this was a very skilled killer, please be careful."

"You didn't wait for me?" Takigawa-san shouted as he neared the pair talking. "You mean old bat."

"Shut it." Matsuzuki-san replied. "Saito-san, please show us around the scene. Do we know which clan?"

"Not entirely sure, but I have set the new intern to looking through the paperwork to try and find out." Saito-san admitted. "So he didn't have to focus on the bodies."

"New intern?" Takigawa-san asked.

"Yasuhara-san, he's very good, despite being so young." Saito-san said as he opened the door to a large warehouse like room. Matsuzaki-san and Takigawa-san both gasped.

The room was covered in blood. At least thirty bodies lay in various places all over the room, all of which had been sliced almost to pieces. A team of forensics were working in various places and bagging evidence.

"The katana is over there." Saito-san pointed to a blade propped up as if on display.

"The killer left the weapon?"

"As you see it now. CSI reckons that the weapon belongs to the clan. Theory is that this was some sort of challenge and the killer won. We have some blood splatter experts working on who's blood was whose and where they standing when they were cut. But it's going to be a tough job. The man we believe was the leader was beheaded."

"Beheaded with their own sword."

A sudden shout interrupted them.

"Saito-san, there is no trace of who these people are on paper. It's all under a false business name: The Koi Company."

"Ah, Yasuhara-san, please meet Takigawa-san and Matsuzuki-san." Saito-san said. Yasuhara-san bowed deeply. Takigawa-san and Matsuzuki-san returned the bow, though not as deep.

The young man was tall with dark hair and a kind face framed with glasses. Though what drew Takigawa-san's notice was the small portion of finger he was missing on the little finger of his left hand.

"We'll let you get back to work. Let us know if you find anything of importance." Matsuzaki-san said and the pair of detectives left.

* * *

When I woke the next morning, I was alone. It took me a moment to remember that Naru had turned up out of the blue. I searched my apartment, but he was nowhere to be seen. I imagine he left when he thought 'the coast was clear'.

I would have to admit to spending a lot of my day at school worrying that he was okay. I had taken a first aid course when I had decided to live alone. So while I sort of knew what I was doing in patching him up, I still wasn't certain that he'd be okay. I mean what if the cut was infected?

I fumbled my way through my lessons and at the end of the school day, began the walk to SPR. I detoured to a cheap convenience store to buy something to eat.

My detour took me by Yuasa High School. The school was slightly bigger than mine, and should've been nearly empty at this time, yet I spotted someone in a fenced off area.

My curiosity got the better of me and I crossed the road to get a better look at what they were doing. A girl with long black hair was tugging at something on the ground, but I couldn't see what it was.

Then she spotted me.

"Oi! What are you looking at?!" She shouted aggressively.

"I'm sorry, just you seemed to be struggling, do you want some help?"

She seemed to falter at my words, and then nodded.

I vaulted the fence and ran over.

"What's the problem?" I asked.

"I need to get this drain cover off."

"Why?"

"Don't ask questions you don't want to know the answer to."

What was it with people and telling me that?

I bent down and together we tugged at the drain cover and slowly it inched onto the grass.

"There." I said as I stood up after the cover was well away from the hole and peered down into the darkness. "You can't go down there, the ladder's broken." I pointed out.

"You can go now." She said calmly.

"What are you going to do?" I asked, concerned.

"Go down there."

"But the ladder is broken! You might die."

"That's the aim." She replied quietly, as if she didn't quite mean to say it out loud.

"What's your name?"

"Kasai Chiaki."

"I'm Taniyama Mai, but you can call me Mai, okay?" I said calmly. "Why do you want to die?"

She looked up sharply at my words.

"Who told you that?"

"You just did." I pointed out apologetically. She looked away, ashamed.

"They keep bullying me." She whispered.

"Who?"

"All the other students." She admitted. "I can't help the way I am…"

"Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem, Kasai-san." I said carefully. "What year are you in?"

"I'm a third year."

"So you'll be out of this place in a few months, right? You can be away from those jerks and never have to see them again." I said. "Do you have anyone you can talk to?"

"Ubusuna-sensei is kind to me."

"Well perhaps you should talk to her about the bullying? She might be able to stop them?" I suggested. Then moved between her and the drain. "But I won't let you try to commit suicide."

I held my arms out shielding her from the drain.

"Okay…" Kasai-san seemed to deflate a bit. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because I don't believe whatever you've done to make people bully you is your fault and it's just not right." I replied. "Come on, let's put this cover back and then I'll give you my number if you like. And if you ever want to rant to me, you can, okay?"

Kasai-san nodded.

As I made to step towards the drain cover again, I managed – and don't ask me how – to trip backwards.

Backwards towards the drain.

Squealing I floundered my arms around as I began to fall through the hole and caught on to the edge. I could feel my heartbeat pounding in my ears.

"Taniyama-san!" Kasai-san screamed and rushed over. She tried to pull me from the drain, but she was as weak as I am. "I'll go and get help!" She said urgently and I saw her run off. "Hold on!" She added over her shoulder.

I tried to slow my breathing and improve my grip on the rim of the drain. Gingerly, I found footing on the rusted old ladder and tried to push off it slightly, but it crumbled beneath my foot.

Then a shout caught my attention.

"Mai? What are you doing?" It was Naru. What on earth was he of all people doing here?!

"I was helping Kasai-san!"

"Kasai-san?"

"Yeah, she was just here…" Then my grip slipped slightly and I squealed as I felt my body drop a few inches.

"Mai!" Naru's voice sounded closer now, but I couldn't be sure.

"I'm okay!"

Oh gravity, thou art a heartless bitch.

I could feel my body slipping further and further down as my sweaty hands lost their grip. Incoherent noises spewed from my mouth as I desperately clung to safety.

Then, at the moment I was sure I was going to fall, two large hands grabbed my arm and prevented my further decent into the darkness. Shocked, I looked up.

"Listen. Calm down, and find your footing on the ladder again." Naru's face had appeared in the opening. "Can you do that?"

"But it's broken?"

"It should hold well enough for me to get a better hold of you, okay?"

"Yes."

I looked for another rung and tentatively placed my foot on it. But as I put weight on it, it too began to crumble.

"I'm going to fall!"

And we did. Both of us fell into the darkness, joined by Naru's grip on my arm.

* * *

"Did you see the intern's finger?" Takigawa-san asked his partner as they sat idly in their joint office.

"No, what about it?"

"He was missing his little finger up to the first joint on his left hand."

"So?"

"So that's a punishment for a first offence in the Yakuza."

"You don't think…?"

"I don't know." Takigawa-san looked out of the office window. But before they could continue the conversation, the office phone rang and Matsuzuki-san picked it up.

"We'll be right down." She said after listening for a moment and hung up. "They want us in evidence."

The two partners walked down to the evidence room.

"Ah, Matsuzuki-san, we have something of great interest to you." Saito-san said. "We have CCTV of the kills."

"What?"

But Saito-san's answer was a gesture of to the screen behind him where Yasuhara-san was pulling up the relevant footage.

"It doesn't have any sound, but you can clearly see everything in colour." Yasuhara-san said as he sat back so they could see the screen.

The video began.

A man dressed all in black with a balaclava over his head was standing in the middle of the room.

He seemed to be speaking to one of men, presumably the leader. Another man passed the masked man a katana and then passed another to one of the subordinates.

The masked man's skill outranked the subordinate by far. He had sliced him from stomach to throat in a matter of a second or two. Several of the other subordinates pounced drawing weapons of their own, but the masked man moved with a skill unrivalled by that of the thugs.

It took him a minute to finish off all bar the leader, who lay down his weapon and knelt in recognition of his loss. The killer finished him with one swipe that took the leader's head clean off. Yasuhara-san paused the video.

"He's a monster." Takigawa-san muttered. "Did he even get injured?"

"If he did, it did not slow him down. I could go through this at half speed to see if he was injured."

"Can we get anything about his appearance from this?"

"Well apart from the obvious pale skill, I think he has blue eyes. If you can give me an hour or so, I should be able to work out his height and rough dimensions from the footage. If you asked me now, I would say he was somewhere between 175cm and 180cm."

"Get us the most accurate data you can." Matsuzaki-san said. She and Takigawa-san shared a look; neither of them had quite realised what they were dealing with.

Together they walked up to their shared office.

"I think it's the same guy. That description the intern gave, though rough, matches him perfectly."

"I think you're right."

"So what on earth is he up to?" Matsuzuki-san asked. "He just took out an entire clan of a criminal organisation that had the backing of one of the families of the yakuza. He had endangered his own life by doing that. We should be thanking him."

"We should keep this quiet." Takigawa-san said and his partner nodded her agreement.

"We should."

* * *

I don't remember blacking out upon landing. But when I woke, I was very aware that my wrist hurt like crazy.

"Are you alright?" A voice asked from behind me. I spun round to see Naru sat against the wall of the sewer massaging his own arm.

"You fell in too?" I asked stupidly.

"If you had let go of my hand, I wouldn't have fallen in with you." He pointed out.

"I'm sorry." I said quietly, though hadn't he been holding onto me? I couldn't remember, it was kind of fuzzy. "I didn't think the step would… Hey, someone will come to save us soon, right?"

"Did you let anyone know you were coming here?"

"Well not really, apart from Kasai-san, but she said she was going for help…" I trailed off.

"I did not see anyone else around." He said.

"Hey! Anyone up there?!" I yelled. But no one responded.

"Why did you come here?"

"I was helping Kasai-san." I looked back up at the hole, remembering Kasai-san solemn demeanour before rounding on Naru again. "How can you stay so calm in a place like this? Especially knowing that it's going to be night soon?"

It's not that I was particularly afraid of the dark, but the thought of being stuck down a sewer at night wasn't particularly appealing! Plus I was stuck in a sewer with the most aloof person! I mean, sure, it's my fault that we fell, but since we're stuck here, he could at least be comforting or encouraging or something!

Hey wait a minute… Thinking about it, isn't this a quality time to find out more about him?

"Have you regained composure?" He interrupted my thoughts.

"Yep." I replied. "You knew I'd regain composure?"

"I knew." He said, and then much to my surprise, elaborated. "You would first be depressed, then get angry, finally calm down, and then become optimistic."

"You really know me very well." I commented.

"It's written all over your face."

I clutched my cheeks in embarrassment.

"Is that so? Oh dear."

"Mai, shall I introduce you to a pet of mine?" Naru said and his voice sounded different. It was lighter.

"Huh?"

He fished something out of his pocket.

"Here, come and look."

I watched and a 500 yen coin popped out of the top of his hand.

"You're not going to tell me your pet's a 500 yen coin, are you?" I teased.

The coin wiggled a little, and then dropped down out of sight.

"It's hiding because you made fun of it."

"You're bluffing!" I protested, pointing at his hand. "It's still in your hand."

"Where?" And he held both hands up and opened them to show me his palms. They were empty.

"What?!" I frowned.

"It's here." And he touched his elbow and drew out the coin between two of his long fingers.

"How did that happen?" I asked, confused. "Let me look!" I demanded loudly, holding my hand out to take the coin. It had to be some sort of trick, right?

"Catch!" And he flicked the coin at me. But I did not see where it landed and so glanced around to see where it had fallen.

"You didn't even throw it at me!" I accused.

"It's hiding again, because it was frightened by your loud voice." He said, showing me his open palms again.

"I wasn't talking loudly." I retorted childishly.

"Ah, it's here." He said. He felt under the collar of his coat and drew out the coin again.

"You're a good performer." I said softly.

"So you think this is a performance?" He asked, sounding amused.

"Isn't it?"

"It's not." Another higher and more childish voice said as the coin wiggled in his fingers.

"It talked!" I said, retreating slightly out of shock.

"Don't tell me you're still afraid of Mai?" Naru said to the coin.

"Yeah." The coin replied in the same voice.

"Don't be afraid. Mai isn't as scary as she might seem."

"Really?" The coin said. It was amazing, this had to be ventriloquism. Even though I knew that, it still felt like the coin was really speaking.

"Can you do anything else?"

"I can't do anything more complicated than this at the moment." Naru replied, pocketing the coin. The dead look had returned to his eyes.

"Did you get hurt?" I asked, worried.

"I don't have enough equipment." He said, and was there bitterness in his voice? Or was I imagining it?

"Don't worry. Lin will arrive soon, hopefully with a rope."

"What?"

"He was in the van with me when I noticed you falling into the well." Naru replied calmly. "He spoke to me while you were passed out. He went to find rope."

"And you didn't think to tell me that?" I huffed. But before I could show him any more of my displeasure, a shout from above drew my attention.

"Naru? Are you down there?" It was Lin.

"Yes."

"I'll throw it down and anchor this end. Can you climb up?" Lin called down. "What about Mai?"

"I'll carry her." Naru said; standing and looking over at me. "Get on my back." He ordered as the rope fell down from the opening.

I didn't dare argue and so climbed onto his back, securing my arms around his shoulders and my legs around his waist.

Whatever I expected him to do, it wasn't for him to take hold of the rope and begin pulling the pair of us up without using his legs at all. I mean it wasn't that I thought he was weak, but he didn't look overly muscled. Perhaps he has done some climbing before, I pondered. Climbers often looked weedy but were immensely strong.

I tried my hardest not to look down because the thought of falling from this height again was terrifying. Instead, I focused on my other senses. Naru smelt very nice. Like warmth and tea and something homely. It wasn't what I had expected to be perfectly honest. I had thought he would smell like disinfectant or something clinical. Well maybe not disinfectant… I giggled at the thought.

"Stop fidgeting or I'll make you climb up by yourself." He muttered.

"Sorry." I whispered back. But daylight was getting closer and suddenly we were almost out.

"Lin, help Mai off me." Naru said, clinging to the edge. Lin released the rope and grabbed me and practically dragged me out before offering a hand to Naru, which he took.

"Thank you." I said. "But what were you even doing here in the first place?"

"Investigating something at the school." Naru replied. "Confidential, so don't ask."

"Wasn't going to and do you mean an actual case?" I asked incredulously while Lin replaced the cover.

"Yes Mai, believe it or not, we do not idly claim to solve cases without taking any." He sounded exasperated, or perhaps exhausted. I wasn't sure which. "Let's get to the office. Come on."

We made our way to the van and Naru allowed me to climb in before him.

As we drove off, I wondered briefly what happened to Kasai-san.

* * *

**Author's note: Well was that long enough for you all?**

**We'll I'm starting to reveal more stuff now! So I hope soon more of your questions will be answered! It's infuriating not being able to tell you what's going on because it's going to ruin it, but I hate turning down all your questions! I honestly try and answer them without spoiling anything!**

**Do you all realise the amount of times during the day I think of something and plan to put it in my author's notes and then COMPLETELY forget what it was that I wanted to include? Because it happens to me SO often. Ah well, I hope it wasn't too important!**

**Please review with your thoughts and predictions! I love hearing them and reviews really do make my day!**


	12. Chapter 12

**WARNING: If you are sensitive about the topic of suicide, then perhaps you shouldn't read this chapter. I'm sorry.**

* * *

I didn't find out what happened to Kasai-san until Friday. And it was honestly one of the real reasons I hated social media.

Someone had taken a picture of the suicide note and somehow it had found its way online.

And I didn't know what was worse: the fact that I, like everyone else, read the note or that I had received a personal mention in it.

**To my parents,**

**I'm sorry.**

**I cannot ask for your forgiveness.**

**I just hope you will be happier without a daughter as weak as I am.**

**To my little sister,**

**You can have all my clothes, even my favourite kimono, you have always been more beautiful than me and you will look good in it so don't let them bury me in it.**

**You are braver than I could ever be and always remember that I love you.**

**To the girl that tried to stop me,**

**Thank you for showing me that not all school girls are cruel.**

**I did return with a rope, but you'd gone.**

**I'm sorry.**

The biggest mistake I made was reading this while at work. I had popped to the loo and had decided to check my phone. I didn't dare read the comments under the photo. But I stared at the image of the letter as tears ran down my face.

She had hung herself in the school gym, for the same reason she had planned to go down the sewer; so she wouldn't be found until it was too late.

When I finally realised that I had been in the bathroom for a while, I wiped my eyes angrily and shoved my phone back in my pocket.

What was I angry at though?

The people that had shared her final message?

The fact that she had gone ahead and killed herself?

Or the fact that I hadn't remained for her to return?

Taking a deep breath, I headed back out into the main office and turned the radio on, hoping it would distract me from my painful thoughts.

The radio was something I had brought in the previous day to make my filing tasks slightly less tedious. Dancing along to pop songs while going about my tasks did make it slightly more enjoyable.

But today was just not my day.

"Breaking news!" The announcer broke through the current song. "A leaked police report has indicated that a mass murder took place late Tuesday night."

"Mai will you turn that down." I whipped around to see Naru standing in his office doorway.

"Sorry." I whimpered and made to turn the radio down.

"The report says that at least 30 men have died, believed to be part of some sort of gang with Yakuza ties." The announcer continued.

"Wait." Naru ordered and I paused with my fingers over the volume control.

"The culprit is believed to be physically fit, blue eyed, 175-180cm tall, of a wiry build with a potential stomach wound."

I felt my eyes widen.

I looked round at Naru, who stared back at me; his eyes were silently begging me to stay quiet.

"What a tragedy." I said carefully as I turned the radio off.

"Yes." He agreed. "Quite."

"I'll get back to work then."

"You've been crying." He stated.

"Yes." I agreed.

"Let's go."

"Where?" I asked, frowning.

"I'll take you home."

"It's fine. I can keep working."

He did not reply, but gave me an odd look. I wished I could understand what he was trying to say with it. It was almost as if he was reprimanding me for something, but I didn't know what.

I picked up my school bag in defeat as Naru informed Lin of where we were going.

I followed Naru down out of the office and to the black van they had been in the other day.

I didn't bother to question whether or not he had a license, or if he was old enough for one.

I did question when he put glasses on though.

"Do you need glasses?" I asked as he started the engine.

"Narumi Kazuo needs glasses." He replied.

"Is that just an alias? Or did you steal that license?" I asked.

"A license with a photo that looks identical to me?" He replied sarcastically.

"Well you could've stolen it off your twin or something!" I retorted.

He replied with a sharp inhale of his breath.

"Why were you crying?" He asked, a few minutes later and I waited a moment before replying.

"You remember when we fell in that drain? The girl that was there before you turned up, Kasai-san, she committed suicide." I whispered as saying it too loudly made it all too real. "Someone had posted her suicide note online. I got a personal mention."

"She used your name?"

"No, but it was obvious it was aimed at me."

There were a few more minutes of awkward silence.

"Don't blame yourself." He said finally. "If people knew what death really meant, no one would ever commit suicide."

"That's an interesting thing for you, of all people, to say." I pointed out. He couldn't hide it any more. The description the radio had given was too perfect for it to be anyone else. I wanted to ask another question, but he cut me off before the words even made it to my mouth.

"Don't ask questions you don't want to know the answer to Mai."

"You know, she said the same thing to me." I replied quietly. "Kasai-san did. She committed suicide and I should've stopped her. Should I stop you?"

But as usual, Naru did not answer. Though perhaps this time it was because my question had actually given him reason to pause and think…

He pulled up outside my apartment and I jumped out.

"Thanks for the lift."

And I slammed the door shut behind me.

* * *

The young man sat with the van parked for longer than he should have.

His mind was clouded with thoughts and worries and a lack of wanting to return to his partner. His partner would have found out by now and be angry with him. He had no desire to battle him tonight.

The young man eventually started the van and returned to his office. Yet he only stayed there for a few minutes.

Long enough to receive a dark glare and share a few words.

But he didn't want to be himself or any of his covers tonight.

He could be anyone he wanted and tonight, he was going to be a friend.

* * *

I had only been home for half an hour before I heard the strange noise. The awkward thing was that I had been in the toilet when I heard it and my knife was in my bedroom.

My initial plan was to hide in the toilet until the noise had gone away. But an all too familiar voice told me it was safe to come out.

"Do you ever enter via the front door?" I asked exasperatedly as I exited the bathroom.

"No." Naru replied curtly.

"Why are you here?"

"You've been crying again." He pointed out, ignoring my question.

"Yes, how on earth did you work it out?" I replied. "Was it the red blotchy patches on my face? The runny nose? Or the tear tracks?"

"You have wet patches on your shirt."

I looked down and saw two dark stains. For some stupid reason, this made more tears leak out of my eyes.

"That isn't going to help." He said quietly, using a thumb to gently wipe away my tears. I stared up at him. How could a man who had killed so many others be so gentle with me?

"Why are you here?" I asked again.

"You left without making tea." He said.

"Only because you made me leave." I walked down the corridor towards my kitchen.

"Will you shut the curtains?" He asked, remaining in the corridor and out of view of the windows. I looked back at him for a moment before complying, then I returned to the kitchen and began to make tea.

"Do you want to anything to eat? I don't have much but…"

"Are you cooking for yourself?"

"I was planning to cook chips." I admitted. I had a whole bag of them in the freezer.

"Chips sound wonderful." He said almost kindly as I handed him his cup of tea.

After I had put the chips in the oven, I joined him on the sofa with my own mug.

"You know the thing that happened the other day…" I started, but hurried on before he could interrupt. "Before you said that I couldn't afford your charge. What was the price for that?"

"A figure that no one could ever pay." He said quietly, yet didn't elaborate.

"If they couldn't pay, why did you do it?"

"I couldn't afford not to, not yet."

He was speaking in riddles that my brain was too tired to decipher.

"Do you want to watch a film?" I asked a few minutes later. He nodded.

"You pick." He said quietly as he stared at the opposite wall as if mesmerised.

And so I did, I searched through my titles before setting my sight on The Eye. I held up the cover so he could see what I had picked before putting the disk into the DVD player.

"What is it with you and crappy horror films?" He asked. "You jump at them every time and yet they are all awful."

"I used to watch them with my mum." I admitted, smiling sadly. He nodded and didn't seem to need any further explanation, so I sat back down on the sofa and waited for the main menu to appear.

About ten minutes into the film, a timer beeped, announcing that the chips were cooked. I made to pause the film, but Naru stayed my hand and got up to sort the food out. I was about to tell him where the ketchup was, before remembering that he'd been through my entire apartment.

He came back a few minutes later with a large plate of chips with a puddle of ketchup at the edge.

"Thanks." I said. He shrugged my words away and we both tucked into the food.

After a few minutes of silent eating, a thought occurred to me.

"Aren't you scared I'd poison your food or your tea?"

"Why would you do that?"

"I wouldn't." I replied. "But I could do."

"I could have slit your throat."

"But you didn't."

"And neither will you."

I nodded at his words, and took a few more chips.

"How much would I be worth?"

"In what terms?"

"How much would someone have to pay you to kill me?" I elaborated while slightly scared of the answer.

He didn't say a word. Perhaps that was for the best…

I didn't really want to know how much my life was worth.

Once the chips were finished, we continued to watch the film. Though I don't think either of us was really watching it. I, at least, was too caught up in my own thoughts to concentrate on the film.

I couldn't help but think about Kasai-san. How I should have stopped her. How I could have saved her. And that even though we had spoken for a matter of minutes, she had considered me worth mentioning in her final message to the world.

And then there was the fact that a known murderer was sitting beside me. Who I had just stared tea and chips with!

Had he come round just so I wouldn't cry alone?

That thought was enough to bring more tears to my eyes.

And the murderer wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me to his chest and I sobbed into his shirt.

He didn't say anything to me, but held me against him until I ran out of tears.

"Go and get ready for bed." He said quietly, releasing me from his grip as the film ended.

It wasn't even that late yet, but I complied.

I returned to the living room in my baggy pyjamas.

"Are you going to leave?" I asked.

"I should." He replied, handing me a glass of water that I accepted gratefully.

"Are you going to?"

"Not yet."

I gave him a small smile, and he took my hand and led me towards my bedroom.

"Get into bed." He said. "You should sleep, crying that much is tiring and your eyes will be appreciative for the respite."

I nodded and slid under the duvet. Naru sat down beside me, like a parent might to a child.

"Thank you." I whispered.

"We have a practical case tomorrow. Wear comfortable shoes and a warm coat."

"Okay."

"Your earlier question…" He looked away before continuing. "I would refuse any offer."

"Why?"

"Though in a different sense, for the same reason I did not kill Hara Masako."

More riddles, I thought bitterly. But before I could ask more questions, he pressed his lips to my forehead and left.

* * *

**Author's note: Well I shoved that warning at the beginning because writing Kasai's suicide note made me cry. Possibly because I've read one before and it's not nice and I wanted to warn you all.**

**When I started writing today, I intended to write something to break all your hearts but it kinda turned a bit fluffy.**

**Yesterday I spent 12 hours in the Learning Commons. Today I spent 9 hours. So I'm sorry for not uploading yesterday, but I literally came home and slept! I only wrote today at encouragement from a dear friend.**

**Please review and send me your thoughts and predictions!**


	13. Chapter 13

"Do you think he's alright?" The old woman asked, brushing a stray blonde hair out of her eyes.

"They were two of our best, he'll be fine." The old man sitting beside her replied.

"That's my point though. They were two of our best, but by himself…" She trailed off.

"He can handle himself just fine."

"Have you heard from Madoka?"

"No, she's laying low for a while. But her last transmission indicated that everything was fine. I have kept an eye on the news in Japan; nothing has given me too much cause for concern." The old man replied reassuringly.

"Did you not hear about the gang extermination?"

"You think he was involved?" The old man frowned.

"I wouldn't put it past him."

"I doubt it. That boy is the most rational person I have ever met. He wouldn't do something so reckless." He said. "Or at least, not without a damn good reason."

"You say that, but he's only 17…"

"Stop worrying. There is nothing we can do and we have several other cases more worthy of our attention right now." The old man said calmly. "I know how you feel about those… That boy, I feel the same, but we cannot interfere. It might cost him his life."

The old woman nodded and sighed, before picking up another piece of paper to read.

* * *

"Echigoya has a copy of what the police think they have on what you did." Lin said as he hung up. "He's going to give us a copy so we are at least aware of what they think." The tall man shock his head.

"Good." The young man replied, not looking up from his book. He then cut off Lin before Lin could even speak. "I know what you are going to say, so don't bother. Yes there was a very good reason that I did what I did. No I do not regret it."

"I think you're getting distracted." Lin countered.

"What gives you that impression?"

"The girl."

"Mai?"

"Who else?" Lin rolled his eyes. "I presume that is where you were earlier?"

"Does it matter if it was?"

"Madoka thinks you're interested in her."

The young man scoffed in reply.

"I am not a fool."

"No, but you are human." Lin said calmly. The young man rolled his eyes and shut his book.

"I'm going to bed."

"Before you go, what is this case tomorrow?"

"A request of Hara Masako." The young man replied as he stood up. "I expect it will be a waste of time."

"So why are you indulging her?"

"It is necessary." And the young man left the room.

However, half an hour later and despite the lateness of the house, the young man was still awake.

Narumi Kazuo liked milk chocolate. He had a real sweet tooth and would always pick cake for dessert.

Shibuya Kazuya hated milk chocolate. But he would partake in the occasional piece of dark chocolate.

Naru…

Naru did not know what he liked. Sometimes he forgot where the facades he played started and his real feelings ended. He could slip easily into any of his aliases and fool everyone.

Everyone except Mai.

She had not believed in his Narumi Kazuo character, had seen through the act but played along for him anyway. The young man wondered briefly what might've happened if they had met under different circumstances.

If he hadn't had the burdens he had now. If he was free to do as he liked. If he was free…

Then an overwhelming wave of guilt racked through his body. How on earth could he be thinking about a girl at a time like this? He had things to do! Someone to find! Someone to avenge!

A loss to mourn.

Scowling, he turned over in his bed, so that he was facing the door. The young man felt under his pillow for gun and wrapped his hand around it. He couldn't help but think of Mai. He knew it was his fault that she slept with a knife now.

And another wave of guilt rolled over him.

He had dragged her into this life. How could he have been so careless? He had already lost one person to this world of blood and drugs and sex and lies. How could he expose someone so innocent and carefree to that pain?

But as the thought of her beautiful, inquisitive, chocolate brown eyes came to mind, the young man realised that it was far too late now. He had already caused her fear and doubt. Yet she had not run away.

Did she not realise that the police would protect her if asked? Protect everyone around her if need be?

The young man sighed; knowing full well that that girl would be trouble. And yet, for some reason, he really didn't mind.

Perhaps Naru liked chocolate after all.

* * *

**Author's note: I'm sorry this is so short! I've had a really stressful couple of days but I wanted to get something up for you! Next update will most likely be Thursday and I am not looking forward to writing that chapter... Like it sort of has to happen, but I'm just not looking forward to it - hence why this chapter turned up... I was putting off the next chapter! Please don't get the wrong idea, the next chapter won't be heartbreaking or anything bad. I just don't think I'm going to like how it turns out.**

**ANYWAY enough of my rambling! Please review this tiny little thing! You guys have no idea how much reviews mean to me. Sometimes, when I'm having a bad day, I go and read old reviews and they always cheer me up!**

**Please review with your thoughts and ideas!**


	14. Chapter 14

Lin dropped Naru and me off at the park around 10am the next morning. He had insisted that he would not be joining us and as Naru didn't argue, I presumed this was pre-arranged between them.

"So what is this?" I asked.

"Hara-san has asked us here for a case." He replied from beside me as we walked towards the meeting point.

"What mystery are we solving?"

"I have no idea."

"That has to be a first." I commented dryly.

"How am I supposed to know something she has yet to tell me?" He said with venom in his voice. He was obviously uneasy about this case.

"Well I didn't tell you my bra size and you knew that." I huffed.

"The contents of her apartment would not answer your question."

"Do you make a habit of searching young girl's apartments?"

"Just the ones I-" But Naru was cut off short by our client.

"I didn't realise you were bringing her." Hara-san said from behind her sleeve. I could not ignore the insult in her voice and glared furiously back. She was wearing another beautiful kimono under her coat and again looked annoying perfect.

"You said there was a case here, she is one of my assistants, so I brought her with me." He explained patiently.

"She won't be needed." Hara-san giggled. How could someone so small be so annoying? She was looking up expectantly at Naru as if he was going to just dismiss me on the spot.

"Go home Mai, I expect you on time tomorrow." Naru said, without even looking at me.

"Fine." I huffed and turned on my heel and stormed away from the giggling girl and my narcissistic arse of a boss. That man made no sense. Yesterday he had been so gentle and sweet and now he was acting like I was dirt under his shoes.

I knew, deep down, that this was probably part of some sort of act, but it didn't make it hurt any less. And if it was all an act, how did I know which bit was fake? Had that kiss meant anything to him?

I was so pre-occupied with my thoughts that I managed to walk straight into someone walking the other way.

"I'm sorry!" I said quickly, crouching to pick up the bag the woman had dropped. However, when I stood back up, I realised that not only was this woman heavily pregnant but she also looked oddly familiar. "Mori-san?"

The woman grinned down at me.

"Come on, you can help me with these bags." She said, hooking an arm through my free one.

"You dyed your hair?" I asked as we walked.

"Yes, and became eight months pregnant in the last week or so…" She replied, obviously amused by my reaction. "It's a fake bump, don't worry." She added in a whisper.

I was still frowning as we walked through the rest of the park, presumably towards her flat.

"You were there on purpose?" I enquired as we started up some stairs in a block of dingy looking flats.

"Of course, I wanted to talk to you."

"Why didn't you just pop by the office?"

"What do you call that boy? Naru? Well Naru wouldn't like it." She said, still looking amused. "Besides, I have to lay low right now."

Mori-san opened the door and let me into her apartment.

"Take a seat, I'll make tea." And she bustled about in the kitchen for a few minutes before appearing with two cups of steaming hot tea. "We need to talk."

I took a cup of tea from her and nodded. She sat down opposite me, huffing like the heavily pregnant woman she appeared to be.

"I know that you know what Naru did on Tuesday." She said it with no hint of a question in her voice. "I know you know some of what he really does and I know you have feelings for him."

I began to protest at her final statement, but she cut me off.

"I can see it in your eyes Taniyama-san." She said sternly and I fell silent for a moment before regaining my composure.

"If I know so much, why haven't you killed me?"

"Because he asked me not to." She replied simply, but continued at the look of confusion on my face. "It's quite common in our line of work. Occasionally, you come across someone and you can't do it. You choose to let them live; perhaps because they smiled, or because they reminded you of something innocent. I think it eases the guilt." She took a sip of her tea. "He won't sack you as he wants to keep an eye on you. And telling you not to get closer to him will not deter you."

"I…" I began, but she cut me off again.

"So I want you to watch something."

* * *

"So you know who I am and what I am doing in Japan." Naru surmised succinctly. "What exactly is it you want from me? Apart from to clear out your garbage." He finished his statement with clear distaste in his voice.

"Oh, I'm sure I'll find a use for you." Hara-san said alluringly. She was clinging to his arm and batting her eyelids, as if it would have some sort of effect over him.

"How did you find out?" Naru asked, staring around at their surroundings. The park, despite being the middle of winter, was still full of people. Some were just passing through on their way home, some were exercising and the remainder were small children playing under the bare trees.

"I've seen the video of course."

"Who showed it to you?"

"Matsuzuki and Takigawa." Hara-san replied. "They are the detectives who are investigating you; I presume you are aware of them?"

"Of course. Do they know how dangerous you really are?"

"Oh, you really know how to flatter a girl, don't you?" She giggled again. "But no, of course they don't."

Naru stopped and turned to face Hara-san.

"I don't want to play games with you. What is it you want with me?"

"Well Mr Davis, how about we go back to my place and I'll show you exactly what sort of games we can play." She winked provocatively and led him away.

* * *

I had been concerned when Madoka had returned with a washing up bowl and a laptop.

However, after watching the clip that was only a few minutes long, I knew exactly why she had brought the bowl. The tea I had drunk was fighting to escape my queasy stomach.

"He did that?" I asked through laboured breaths.

"Yes." Madoka replied, there was pity in her eyes and I wondered if she genuinely regretted having had to show the clip to me. She closed the laptop down and put it to one side. "He is a dangerous man, I am sure you knew that though."

"I didn't realise…"

"That he was capable of such brutality?" She asked and I nodded my head. "He is an accomplished actor."

It was only later, when I lay in my own bed trying to sleep, that those words really sunk in. 'An accomplished actor', she had said.

I had known why she had shown me those things.

Yesterday I had questioned why I had let someone I knew was a murderer touch me, comfort me, kiss me… Today, I felt sick at the very thought. Flashes of that video played through my head. The blood had danced, the kills had been clean, and his movements had been swift. It had been like some perverted form of performance.

My hands were gripped on the knife that I had kept in my room and I wondered what the point of holding onto it was anymore. Any of them could kill me in an instant and I had no way to fight that. I was safe as long as he wanted me living.

But as I closed my eyes I thought about last night's kiss. Was I a fool to hope that it hadn't been an act? Or glad that someone so vile had to act in order to show such intimacy?

Slowly, I fell into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

Naru had been standing in the shower for nearly half an hour. It had long since gone cold, but that no longer bothered him.

He did not feel clean.

No matter how much he scrubbed every part of his body, he still felt violated at what that woman had made him do. He knew that he could have stopped at any point, but at what price? His head? Mai's head?

Nothing was worth risking that. So he had let her use him. Her associates were too dangerous and too large to ignore.

Naru wondered if he would ever feel clean again. Despite having done it several times already, he picked up the shower gel bottle and squeezed more gel out of it into his palm. He vigorously rubbed it all over his body, trying to scoop any trace of that woman out of his pores.

He knew that certain superiors of his would be furious if they ever found out, as if that would ever reach a report.

The worst part was he knew he would have to do it again. He balled up his fist and slammed it into the wall. Pain flared up through his arm and red spots of blood appeared on his knuckles. He wanted to scream. He wanted to cry. He wanted out.

But there was no out.

When you play this game, you win or you die. There is no middle ground.

* * *

**Author's note: If you missed the reference in this one, shame on you all.**

**I was asked in my reviews of chapter 13 to explain a few things so here goes:**

**The thing about the chocolate - Right so the Narumi Kazuo and Shibuya Kazuya are both characters created by Naru in order to protect his real identity that for the sake of argument we will all pretend that we don't know what it is :P So each of these characters he has created will have different opinions on things, such as chocolate, as described in the chapter. Chocolate was chosen as it reminds him of Mai, or more particularly, Mai's eyes. So the "Perhaps Naru liked chocolate after all." Line at the end was an admission that he had some sort of feelings for Mai. I am sure there is a technical name for this sort of writing device, but I am a Physics student, so I have no idea what it is.**

**The thing about the drugs - Regarding this line: ****"He had already lost one person to this world of blood and drugs and sex and lies." Naru is, as I am sure you have all figured out by now, part of the underworld of crime and stuff, which is known for drug smuggling, people smuggling, killing people and sharing secrets for a price. So that was merely a reference to the world he works in. He does not do drugs.**

**If you have any more questions please do not hesitate to contact me!**

**And finally, please review with your thoughts and guesses!**


	15. Chapter 15

"What did you do to your hand?" I asked as I brought Naru his tea early on Sunday morning. He took the cup and waved me away without so much as a word. I had spotted the scabs on his knuckles as soon as he made to take the cup away from me.

"Get out." He growled and I flinched away. I ran out of the office and back to the box of files. Confused as I was about how I felt about Naru, to have him snap at me like that was horrible.

I took a deep breath and held back my tears as I began sorting the never ending pile of cases.

* * *

Lin stormed into Naru's office around 11am.

"_What do you want?_" Naru asked tersely.

"_Why is Taniyama-san trying not to cry?_" Lin replied curtly.

"_I have no idea, why don't you ask her?_" Naru replied in a bored voice.

"_What happened yesterday?_" Lin asked.

"_None of your business._"

"_Noll, I am your partner, you need to tell me these things._"

"_Don't call me that._" Naru spat back and Lin rolled his eyes. "_Hara-san-_"

But a knock on the door interrupted them.

* * *

I knocked on Naru's office door as I could hear him and Lin talking.

"Come in." I heard, muffled by the door. I entered hesitantly.

"Hara-san is here to see you." I said directly to Naru. A flash of anger shot through his eyes before he stood up and nodded.

"Lin, we can finish this later." He said.

"Fine." Lin left the office and I followed, with Naru close behind me.

"Hara-san." Naru greeted the petite woman. I was supposed to be doing yet more filing, but I had to admit I was too interested in what she was going to say to be paying much attention to my work.

"I would like to take you out for lunch, as a thank you for yesterday." Hara-san said coyly.

"Understood." Naru replied resignedly and went to retrieve his jacket. Hara-san had obviously caught me looking because she spoke to me next.

"There's no need to look so surprised. He and I will often go out for meals together now."

I wanted to slap her just to wipe that annoying smirk off her face. But Naru had returned with his coat and they left.

Then a new thought occurred to me. Did Hara Masako know what he was?

It was obvious to just about everyone that she was hitting on him, but if so, was she in the same danger that I was? Did Madoka need to warn her too?

As much as I didn't like the girl, I couldn't very well let her walk around with that murderer, ignorant of his position. But would telling her endanger her?

I just had too many thoughts in my head to deal with.

I managed to busy myself with filing until Naru returned, which was around 2pm. He did not look happy as he stormed into the office.

"Tea." He growled at me before slamming his office door behind him.

It was only then that another new thought occurred to me; what if Hara-san was also part of this dubious world of Naru's?

As I made tea, I thought through what would mean. She had first come in on the night he had killed that gang. Had she made him do it? Was she a client of his real profession? Not the facade that he played?

Again, I knocked on his door before entering and left the tea on his desk. Naru was leant over a piece of paper and rubbing his forehead.

"Does Hara-san know?" I asked him quietly.

Naru's head snapped up as if shocked. He apparently hadn't been aware of my presence at all.

"You have one more week of school before the winter holidays correct?"

"Yes." I replied and he nodded.

"For the remainder of your time working here, bring your school work. I want you to complete your homework before beginning the filing."

"You're going to pay me to do my homework?" I asked, slightly confused.

"Isn't that what I just said, idiot?" He said with relish for the insult and I flinched at his words. He frowned at my movement. "You're afraid of me." He muttered quietly. "You haven't been afraid around me since we first met, what's happened?"

"Nothing." I replied quickly. Too quickly.

He was staring into my eyes with such intensity it almost burned. It was as if he was trying to read my mind.

"Madoka?" He questioned suddenly and I looked away. "What did she do? I told her to leave you alone."

"She didn't do anything." I said nervously, unable to meet his eyes.

"Get back to work." He said coldly. I glanced at him before scurrying out of his office. His face was blank, but his eyes… His beautiful blue eyes were full of pain.

I just didn't know what to think.

After seeing that video, anyone would think that the person committing such acts had to be a monster. Yet there he was, a teenaged boy with emotions and hormones like any other person.

I was struggling to make the two overlap. A monster with feelings? I supposed all monsters had to have feelings really. I didn't know why he had ended up like this, but I don't think anyone would have willingly chosen the life he led, would they?

Later that night at home, I was playing music through my laptop speakers and cooking my dinner in the kitchen area.

"_Koboreta namida wa!_" I sung as I chopped up some vegetables. "_Don't cry - kin demo gin demo nakute!_" I threw the vegetables into the wok and gave it a little flick so the contents flipped over. "_Arifureta namida - fall from my eyes - megami mo kizukanai!_" I continued to sing until I heard a noise down the corridor of my flat.

Quickly, I turned down the heat on the wok and the volume of the music. I gripped the knife I had been using on the vegetables tightly in my hand and called out.

"Who is it?" I suspected I already knew the answer though.

"Who do you think, dolt."

"Get out." I replied, holding the knife up as he came into view. My curtains were already shut so he held no hesitation in walking right up to me. "Get out of my apartment now."

He did not speak, but walked until the knife I was holding was centimetres away from his chest.

"If you are aiming for my heart, you need to point that here." He guided my knife directly over his heart. "And you need to turn it 90 degrees, otherwise my ribs will get in the way." His voice was cold and mechanical. "Alternatively, you could slash my throat." And again he guided the knife up so it was in front of his neck. "Or you could aim for my stomach and hope I would bleed out, it would probably be messier."

I was stunned; my grip on the knife was weakening.

"But how will you dispose of my body? Assuming that you can even carry it yourself? You have no vehicle, no other means of transportation or anything…"

"I could call the police and tell them what you really are." I stammered. "I could say it was self-defence."

"Self-defence to kill your unarmed boss?"

"Please leave."

"Not until you tell me why you are suddenly afraid. I suspect you knew what I was from the beginning, what has changed?"

"Wouldn't you be afraid if a monster could get into your apartment?"

"A monster?" He sounded almost insulted. But I realised there was no point in denying it anymore.

"Mori-san showed me the video of what you did last Tuesday…"

"Echigoya must have sent it to her." He cursed under his breath. "I see. Well that explains your behaviour. Do you still want me to leave?"

"Can you explain it to me? Why you did it?" I asked as I lowered my knife. I turned away from him and back to my dinner. Naru paused at my question, then took a seat at the table and watched me cook.

"There was a woman called Saito Mikiko. She was a prostitute and somehow ended up pregnant." He said carefully. "She gave birth to a baby girl. She and her baby girl lived reasonably happily until the girl was about five years old. Saito-san died in a car accident. The young girl was taken into care until social services located her father. The little girl thought she was so lucky to finally meet her father. But she was taken away from her friends and the life she knew. She had a private tutor hired for her, one of the best in Japan. But instead of learning geography and history and other normal subjects, she learnt business and economics and languages." He paused to take a breath and I looked around. He was staring at the table with a furious intensity. "Her father gave her everything she wanted. But for her thirteenth birthday, he gave her to a 'business partner' for the night. His investment had finally become useful. She was learning the family business and fast. She was used for sex and in return listened to secrets to share with her father."

"Where is this going?" I asked quietly.

"Just listen." He replied. "Her father had heard whispers of a new danger coming into Japan. Not dangerous to him, but perhaps to his associates. He talked to a person he knew high up in the police force and sent his daughter in undercover; her biggest mission yet." He paused again. "She knew all about this danger, everything about him and decided to use that information against him. She had the backing of one of the largest Yakuza families in Japan, so he had very little choice. She tested him by sending him to deal with an issue that had arisen. He exterminated the pests perfectly."

And now I understood why he was telling me these things.

"A few days after he had proven himself, the young girl met up with him again. For years she had been used and abused. And every man that had used her had told her that he loved her. It didn't take long for her to think that sex equalled love. She craved love as it was the only thing her father couldn't buy for her. She took the young man and forced him to do the things that she herself had been forced to do for so many years. Because sex equalled love. Even if she had to threaten the lives of everyone he knew and cared about."

I suddenly didn't feel very hungry any more.

"And what about the young man's story?" I whispered as I turned off the stove.

"That's a story for another day." He replied.

"Does everyone in your world have a story like that?"

"Not all, but more than you would perhaps think." He replied. "Very few come from good backgrounds."

I put a lid on the half cooked food.

"I'll leave now." He said as he stood up.

"No." I replied quickly. "You can stay, if you want."

"And do what?" He asked. "Burden you with the company of a monster?"

I studied his face. It was as usual blank, bar the pain in his eyes. Perhaps, I thought bitterly, monsters were made not born. I had been too quick to judge.

"We can watch a film?" I suggested weakly. "It's just all been a lot to deal with these last few weeks and that video gave me nightmares and…" I trailed off.

To my surprise, he nodded. I picked out another crappy horror film and flipped the lights. We sat in silence watching the film until my head began to droop and my eyes began to close.

When I opened them again, he was carrying me through to my bedroom.

"Naru?" I whispered sleepily and he looked down. "Will you tell the boy's story one day?"

"Maybe one day." He replied sadly as he placed me down in my bed and covered me up with my duvet.

* * *

**Author's note: So basically no one liked last chapter and I found it very interesting how some of you worded your reviews. But this story now has the most reviews of any of my stories. I won't ramble on now though, please review!**


	16. Chapter 16

And so for the next week, I took my homework with me to work and completed it before beginning the filing, just as Naru had told me too.

Twice during the week, Hara Masako turned up and stole Naru away from the office. Having heard her story, I should have pitied her and yet, I couldn't. Partially because she was making Naru unhappy, but mostly because she was laying her filthy mitts on the man I…

But I couldn't let that thought finish in my head.

Hara-san still had a choice. I had read once that it was quite common for the abused to become an abuser. It was a vicious circle as a result of damaged psyches but she still had a choice.

And somehow, I didn't think she would want my pity. Pity didn't solve anything, didn't make anything better. I had had people pity me before, having lost both my parents at a relatively young age. I had hated it.

So instead, whenever she turned up and dragged him away, I was polite and as kind to her as I dared be. Asking if she was well and offering her tea.

She seemed somewhat confused by my actions and brusquely brushed me away, but I did not stop trying.

On Saturday morning, just as I arrived, Naru called me into his office.

"Are you any good with children?"

"I'm okay, I guess?" I replied, thrown by this weird question. "Why?"

"I have just been called regarding a missing child. Apparently the police aren't taking it too seriously because the boy has run away before."

"That's horrible! It's freezing out there!"

"Exactly, it is for that reason that we are heading to the site in about twenty minutes." Naru replied. "Go and get your coat, and make a flask of tea."

I did as I was asked, but when I came out of the kitchen clutching the flask of tea, Hara-san was standing in the main office.

"Good morning Hara-san!" I greeted her cheerfully.

"We can't go for lunch today Hara-san." A low voice said behind me. I spun around to see Naru standing in his office door. "I have a missing child to find."

"Oh." Hara-san faltered. She looked genuinely disappointed.

"She could come with us!" I suggested quickly. "If we are looking for a kid, we need all the pairs of eyes we can get right?" I looked at Naru for approval and he glared angrily back. I faltered under the furious look he gave me.

"Would that be okay?" Hara-san asked sweetly.

"Fine." Naru growled and stormed away.

Half an hour later and we were all standing outside a church. We were greeted by an elderly man, who introduced himself as Father Toujou, and a young blonde haired man who looked very familiar.

I glanced around and noticed a load of children playing beside the church. It was a very mixed bunch of kids, obviously from all over the world; an unusual sight in Japan.

"Father Toujou looks after the children of his foreign parishioners while their parents are at work. He cares for them, and if they can't go back to their homeland for some reason, he takes them in." The young man said to me.

"I see."

"While we're listening to what he has to say, please keep the children occupied." Naru said to me and Hara-san. I expected Hara-san to object in some way, but she didn't and so we started playing with the children.

Some of the younger girls and boys were under the impression that Hara-san was a princess of some sort and Hara-san had played along, much to their delight.

I joined some of the slightly older children playing football. It was all going well until I managed to boot the ball into the woods that ran alongside the church grounds. I apologised awkwardly to the children and went to get the ball.

* * *

"The police aren't taking us seriously anymore." Father Toujou said as he offered the two men a seat.

"Because the child has run away so often before?"

"No, not at all." He replied sadly. "But the children seem to be taking it in turns to run away. After the third one, the police wouldn't come and help anymore. I mean they all come back, but none of them will tell us why they are running in the first place. The weather is getting an awful lot colder and we don't want one of them to get hurt because of whatever silly prank they are playing."

"We were hoping," the young blonde man said. "That you could find Tonnato and then talk to the children. They won't listen to us, but as 'scary' outsiders, they might take you more seriously."

"I see." Naru said. "Is there anything else we should know?"

"Not that I can think of, off the top of my head. But please don't hesitate to ask if you want to know something."

"Right."

The four men headed out into the grounds.

"Where is Mai?" Naru asked Hara-san.

"She was playing football." Hara-san replied as she gestured vaguely towards the pitch.

Before Naru could ask anything else, a tapping sound vibrated through the playground.

"What's that?"

"They are playing stick." Father Toujou said. "It's like hide and seek, but when ready, they tap a stick."

Naru began walking purposefully towards the origin of the sound, Lin in his wake.

"We'll wait here for you." Father Toujou said.

"Understood."

* * *

I found the football easily enough, but as I turned to walk back to the pitch, an odd tapping noise reached my ears. Curious, I turned and started towards the noise.

"Hello?" I called out, wondering if it was one of the children trying to play a prank on me or something. No one answered.

I kept walking until the forest opened up onto a path. There was what looked like an outbuilding with a fence running along the back. The noise was definitely getting louder, so I had to be getting closer, right?

Before I could take two steps however, a noise to my left caused me to turn.

"Mai? What you doing here?" It was Naru and Lin.

"I was retrieving the ball." I held it up to show them. "And then I heard the tapping sound..."

"So you just decided to follow it?" He asked exasperatedly.

"Well, yeah."

He rolled his eyes at me as Lin continued towards the sound of the noise.

"Naru, I've found-" Lin began, but was cut off as a small child flew at him.

"Daddy!"

"What?" I exclaimed.

"Are you Tonnato?" Naru asked the boy, ignoring the fact that said boy was clinging to Lin.

The boy nodded.

In the end, Lin ended up carrying the boy back to the church. We walked in an awkward silence that I had no idea how to fill.

There was no way on earth that Lin was that boy's father. My basis for that being that Lin was tall and Asian and the boy had a completely different build with dark skin and the beginnings of an afro.

When we arrived back at the playground, Hara-san was still playing with the children.

"Off with his head!" She was shrieking theatrically at one of the little boys, who the other children proceeded to tickle mercilessly. However, when she spotted us, she rushed over. "Father Toujou explained the situation and I think I know what's going on with the children."

"Lin, play with the boy for now. Go on Hara-san." Naru said as Father Toujou and the blonde man joined us. Lin was dragged away by the young boy.

"They think they are going to find their parents. Apparently a boy called Kenji ran off and hit his stick and they were told that he 'found his father'. So all the orphans are trying it; they think that if they run away and bang a stick about, their real parents will come running." She explained quickly, looking at Father Toujou for confirmation.

"Kenji-kun died. We told them that so they wouldn't be upset and it wasn't technically a lie; his father was dead." He said regretfully. "How did you find that out? We've been asking them what's going on for weeks?"

"I have a way with words." Hara-san replied proudly.

"Let's give these children a talk then."

"I'll do it." Hara-san said.

And she did, while the young blonde man, who told me his name was John Brown, told me what on earth was actually going on!

It was only as we were about to leave that I realised where I had seen John before. He had been visiting the woman who was in that house Naru had pretended to look around. What had her name been? Morishita something-rather...

I wondered if he recognised me, but didn't dare say anything. Naru had pretended to be someone else then, I doubt he wanted me bringing it up now!

Naru dismissed me as soon as we arrived back at the office, for which I was grateful. The last few days of term had been hectic and I was looking forward to a relaxing evening.

Little did I know, I was not about to get any relaxation.

I had been home for about an hour when he broke in, again.

And the worst thing was that I didn't even jump. He just strolled down my corridor like he own the place and joined me on the sofa, where I was yet again watching a crappy horror film.

"Why did you invite her today?" He asked quietly.

"Shouldn't I have?"

"You realise what she did to me, don't you? I thought I made it clear enough." He sounded almost angry.

"She is blackmailing you into having sex with her." I replied, not looking at him.

"You realise that is akin to rape."

"As if you are any better." I retorted, rounding on him.

"I would never do that!" He hissed back.

"Really? So killing people is better than raping people?" I had to try hard not to shout at him, but went on before he could say anything. "And it's not like you haven't forced me into things!"

"What things?" He snorted. "A well-paying job?"

"You kissed me!" I growled. "And didn't ask me if I was okay with that!"

"You could've stopped me."

"Mori-san said that the only reason, the _only_ reason, I am still alive is because you want me alive." I snapped. "Do you really think I am going to stop you doing anything when my life hangs on the line?!"

He looked taken aback by my words.

"And you've threatened my friends, who are the only people I have left in this world! And you have broken into my house, rendering the only safe place I have gone! I have been sleeping with a knife because I have been scared for weeks and it's all because of you!" I was on my feet now and shouting at him. "I really don't see how you are _any _better than _she_ is. So if you expect for some demented reason for me to be nice to you! I am damn well going to be nice to her too!"

It was only as Naru stood up and looked down at me with fury in his eyes that I remembered that I had just yelled a lot of very nasty things at a murderer.

"I was wrong." He said in a deadly calm voice. "I was wrong to have kissed you."

"And the rest of it?"

"The rest of it is irrelevant; there is more at stake here than one stupid sixteen year old getting scared."

"You jerk!" I made to pound by fists on his chest, but he caught my hands with apparent ease.

"You're fired." He said, letting go of my wrists and backing away. I fell limply to the floor in shock, when I looked up, he was gone.

I didn't even realise I was crying until I felt the tears soak through my pyjamas. He was going to kill me. I knew it. The man I both loved and hated was going to kill me and there was nothing I could do about it.

I didn't really watch the rest of the film. I wasn't even aware of when I stopped crying or when I fell asleep.

The next thing I knew, I had jumped awake at the sound of someone banging on my front door. Somehow, I had fallen asleep on the sofa. I pushed the blanket – that I didn't remember being there before – off of my body and hastened to answer it.

"Hello?" I whispered into the bright sunlight. There were two figures standing outside, a redheaded woman and a tall sandy haired man.

"Taniyama Mai?" The woman asked.

"Yes?"

"You're under arrest."

* * *

**Author's note: This took far too long to write and I'm not really happy with the middle part of this chapter. But oh well. I have a few things to say with regards to reviews I have received...**

**1) "**No matter what, naru is also a 'man' and i can't help but be bothered whether he enjoyed 'it' during those moments [even when he outwardly suggested that he felt dirtied]." **To this reviewer, no, he did not enjoy it. Rape is a disgusting this and no one enjoys it, regardless of whether they are male or otherwise.**

**2)**"Y u stop rite the story" **I have not stopped writing the story, I just didn't update yesterday. Chill out.**

**In general, please do not tell me what to do with my fic or how to update or when to update. I will not make a chapter longer or update sooner just because one of you have told me to. If anything, it makes me want to do the opposite just to annoy you.**

**Please don't get me wrong, I love hearing your thoughts and guesses for what's going to happen, but I do sort of have a plan for this and I will be sticking to it.**

**Okay, now I've finished bitching, please review!**


	17. Chapter 17

The two detectives didn't even let me shower or put proper clothes on. They dragged me out of my house, handcuffed my hands together and pulled me into a car.

They refused to answer my questions the entire car journey and once at the station, they dragged me into an interview room and left me there.

My stomach rumbled as I tried to think what on earth I had done to deserve being put through this. It had to be something to do with Naru, surely?

* * *

"Shibuya Kazuya speaking." Naru said as he answered the phone.

"It's me. Is this line secure?" A familiar voice replied.

"Echigoya? And if you're quick."

"Good." The voice replied. "Your little friend has gotten herself into some trouble."

"What little friend?"

"Taniyama Mai."

"What?" Naru sat up straight in his chair. "Explain."

"They've dragged her in under tax evasion, but I think they want to question her about you."

Naru swore loudly.

"My thoughts exactly; but I reckon I can fix the circumstances for you, in return for a favour."

"Anything." Naru agreed. "Get her out of there."

* * *

It was common knowledge in Japan that if the police arrested you, they were certain they could convict you or force you to confess. This meant they either had something on me or they thought they could pin a crime on me. Where they going to try and get me to take the fall for something Naru had done? Had he set me up? How often had he been in my apartment? He could easily have taken some DNA and planted it somewhere…

But for what crime?

The body found in the old school building? The man in that car? The gang mass murder? Or some other assassination that I knew nothing of?

My thoughts were interrupted when the two detectives that had arrested me walked into the room.

"Sorry to keep you waiting Taniyama-san." The woman said. "I am Matsuzuki Ayako and this is my partner, Takigawa Houshou."

"I expect you know why you are here." Takigawa-san said as he took a seat opposite me.

"No, I don't." I whimpered. I couldn't help but feel very vulnerable in my pyjamas, especially without a bra on.

"Don't play games with us, Taniyama." The woman hissed. I noted the loss of the honorific. "We know you've been evading tax."

"What?" I exclaimed. This was honestly the last thing I had expected to hear.

"You've had your job several weeks and yet you've made no attempt to pay your tax."

"But I thought employers did that? That they took it off before I was paid?" At least, this was what I'd been told at school.

"Well we've received nothing from him. Perhaps we should get him in here." Takigawa-san said to his partner. So that's what it was… They were using me to get to him. But he'd sacked me; did I still have to protect him? Hadn't he told me to answer any questions asked about him truthfully, for my own sake?

"Could you tell us a little about your boss?" Matsuzuki-san asked.

"Um…" I hesitated. "He likes tea…"

But before I could say anything else, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in." Takigawa-san called and a young man with black hair and glasses came in.

"It's a mistake." He said. "Her boss filed her in the wrong tax bracket; she's been playing a hell of a lot more than she should have done. That's why she didn't appear on the right list."

"What? How did that happen?"

"He filled all of the people working in that office under the same tax bracket, despite the fact she isn't earning as much as the others. I've rectified the mistake and she will get the rebate with her next pay cheque." The young man said and Matsuzuki-san sighed.

"Thank you Yasuhara-san. Perhaps you could escort Taniyama-san out of the building."

I watched the interaction completely shocked.

"Perhaps I should take her home? She's wearing pyjamas…" Yasuhara-san suggested awkwardly.

"Whatever you like." Takigawa-san and Matsuzuki-san were already leaving.

"Come Taniyama-san." Yasuhara-san grinned at me. Still slightly stunned, I got up from my chair and followed the young man out of the interview room. Yasuhara-san led me to an office where he retrieved his keys and a coat, which he wrapped around my shoulders, and then led me out of the building to what was presumably his car.

"Jump in." He said cheerfully.

"Thank you." I said.

"It's alright." He said as he started the engine. "Your boss just owes me one now."

"What?" I asked, genuinely confused now.

"I fiddled the system to get you out of there."

"Hang on, what? You're in on this?" I asked incredulously.

"I'm in with a bit of fit. But I hope you realise what they are really after."

"Naru." I replied. "Why don't they just drag him in?"

"They have nothing on him. Their boss won't let them pull any strings without some concrete evidence and at the moment, they have nothing but ghosts." Yasuhara-san replied. "You were the only link they had."

"But he's sacked me now." I admitted.

"That won't last, not after this." Yasuhara-san laughed.

"You know where I live, don't you?"

"Of course."

"Have you been through my apartment too?" I asked resignedly.

"Of course not! What do you take me for? Some sort of pervert?"

For the first time in what felt like a very long time, I laughed, but it did not last.

"Do you kill people too?" I asked.

"No." He replied. "It bothers you that he does though, doesn't it?"

"Does it not bother you?"

"I know who he kills, so not really." He said.

"What do you mean?"

"Some would argue that no one deserves to die, but others would say that it's better to take one life than for a lot of people to be hurt." Yasuhara-san replied. "This is your block right?"

"Yes." I said, taking a look out the window. "But I don't have my key… Those detectives didn't let me get anything before they dragged me out."

"Yes, they were a bit eager." Yasuhara-san muttered. "Do you not have a spare key? Could the landlord not let you in?"

"No and he would for a fee." I scowled. "I don't suppose you know how Naru gets in do you?"

"I can work it out just by the architecture."

"How?" I asked quickly.

"Now that would be telling and I'd rather he still owed me that favour."

I scowled again.

"Landlord it is then." I grumbled darkly.

"Don't give up so easily!" Yasuhara-san was grinning again. "I can pick locks."

And he did exactly that. I could not thank him enough. Not only would my landlord have made an almighty fuss about letting me back in, he would have questioned me on why I had been out in my pyjamas anyway and then would have charged me and complained bitterly about the fact that it was a Sunday. Because apparently no one should work on a Sunday!

Yet the police and my old boss worked on a Sunday.

Once Yasuhara-san had left, I went for a shower. I felt disgusting and tired.

The hot water helped a lot. Afterwards, I dressed and cooked breakfast while trying to piece together everything that had happened. Yasuhara-san said he could work out how Naru could get into my apartment from the architecture of the building, but that didn't seem a very helpful clue to me. Though I doubt he would have wanted to give too much away…

But I almost felt relief at the fact that I was no longer under that man's employment. If he was going to kill me, I doubt he'd make a fuss about it. Which meant I probably wouldn't realise it'd happened until it was too late.

I could just be a normal girl again now.

I was free.

"Mai." A low voice said.

I spun around on my chair to see him standing in the corridor pointing a gun at me.

"What did you tell them?"

"Killing me won't make them forget what I told them." I retorted and turned back to my food.

"Mai." He said in a warning tone.

"What? Going to torture it out of me?"

"If I have to." He replied forcefully.

"I told them you like tea."

"What?" He sounded shocked.

"They asked me to tell them a bit about you, I told them you liked tea as it was the first thing I thought of and then Yasuhara-san came in."

"That's all?"

"Well why don't you go and ask them?" I replied flippantly.

"I need you to come back to work." He said after a moment's silence. I looked around, he had lowered the gun.

"Is that you telling me to come back to work for you or else you'll kill my friends?" I asked tiredly.

"It will look suspicious if you leave the business after being called in by the police. But I won't force you." He said quietly.

"You realise I was arrested? That will go on my record! I might never be able to get a job when I'm older because of that!" I hissed at him. "I might not be able to work with children or anything."

"I will have your record wiped." He replied calmly.

"How?" I asked.

"I have contacts."

I rolled my eyes. Of course he did.

"My working for you was just a cover, wasn't it?"

"Primarily. By hiring me you could kill two birds with one stone."

"It wasn't because you cared for me specifically was it?" I asked, looking up at him. His face was characteristically blank and for once, I could not read the emotion in his eyes.

"I can't afford to care for anyone." He replied. "Will you work for me or not?"

Five minutes ago, I had felt relief at the idea that I would never have to see this man again and now… Now I was thinking about the possibility of going back. I wasn't sure what it was that I was drawn to, but a tiny part of me wanted to continue down this dangerous path entwined with that mysterious man.

"Can I think about it?" I asked, looking down at my food and pushing it around my plate with my chopsticks.

"You have until tomorrow, if you are not there at 9am, I will presume you do not want to continue your employment with me."

When I looked up, he was gone.

Sighing, I glanced out the window; I could see clouds rolling in. It was going to storm.

* * *

**Author's note: So I live in Manchester in the UK, and we have just experienced probably the few days of what the rest of the world would call 'summer'. As a result, I was wearing shorts! Now for those of you that don't know, I have very long hair. Long enough that even in a plait, the ends of my hair was tickling the back of my legs that weren't covered by my shorts. Every time this happened I freaked out a little because I thought something was touching me. So yeah.**

**Can I ask you all a favour? I am well aware that this story raises a lot of questions as to what the hell is going on. So when you all review, could you tell me what question about this story you most want to know the answer to?**

**This is partially because I'm curious, and partially because I don't want to leave anything unanswered by the end! So it would be really great!**

**Please review and tell me all your thoughts!**


	18. Chapter 18

"_Where have you been?"_ Lin demanded as the young man entered the hotel room.

"Taking care of a favour."

"And did you leave CCTV footage of yourself at this one too?"

But Naru only rolled his eyes.

"What are you going to do with the girl?" Lin asked gently.

"If she returns to work for me, then we will have to take her with us." Naru replied quietly. "To leave her could be dangerous for her if the police are onto us."

"And if she doesn't return?"

"Then we will never see her again."

"You should have killed her." Lin grumbled. "But is taking her with us wise? It's hardly like she will fit in; can she even dance?"

"If she can't, then you can teach her. You taught Madoka if I remember correctly." Naru said smirking.

"I will be doing no such thing." Lin protested. "Have Echigoya do it, he's attending as well isn't he?"

"Yes. I might have him attend her. That might be… Best."

"Yeah, no doubt Hara-san will proposition you." Lin said, but Naru had turned away. "Are you sure about attending this thing?"

"We have to." Naru replied as he stared out of the window. "Someone there might know something."

"Someone there might have done it." Lin pointed out.

"Exactly."

* * *

So as soon as I had decided that I would be returning to work for that narcissistic jerk, I decided I would arrive at 9:05.

The only issue was that it was now 8:56 and I was already at the office, or more accurately, sat outside the office door. I flat out refused to go in before 9:05 on principle.

I wasn't entirely sure why I had chosen to come back. I guess the money was good, but I suppose that really, I was too damn curious about this man to give up yet. Plus he still knew how to get into my room and I really wanted to get him back somehow for going through my underwear drawer.

But my plan to wait was somewhat ruined.

At 9:01 by the clock on my mobile, the office door opened to reveal Naru standing there in his usual all black get up.

"Why haven't you come in?" He asked in a tired voice.

"Because otherwise you'll expect me on time every day." I huffed.

"Get up." He ordered and reluctantly I got to my feet. "Make tea and meet me in my office."

Scowling I did as I was told and five minutes later I was entering his office with a mug of steaming hot tea.

"Leave it there." He said, without looking up from his work. "Wait." He added as I was about to leave.

"What?" I asked, not caring that I sounded rude.

"Can you dance?"

Whatever I had thought he was going to say, it had not been that.

"Excuse me?" Perhaps I hadn't heard him correctly.

"Can you dance?"

Yep, definitely hearing things.

"What sort of dance?"

"Waltz?" He offered, waving a hand impatiently.

"As in ballroom dancing?"

"Yes." He rolled his eyes.

"No, I can't…" I replied, thoroughly confused. "What is this about?"

But as usual, he completely ignored my question.

"I presume you are free this weekend?"

"But this weekend is Christmas!" I protested.

"Well I am glad you can at least keep up with the date." He replied dryly. "Are you free or not?"

"I guess I am, but why?"

"We are going on a business trip. I will have Mori-san explain the details to you." He said. "Please return to work." I frowned, but turned and left. Just before I closed the door, I heard him pick up the phone and say: "Echigoya, I need another favour…"

At lunchtime, Naru told me to go to a café a few blocks away. Sighing, I did as I was told and met Mori-san there.

She looked as she had done the last time I saw her, with black hair and the baby bump.

"Taniyama-san!" She greeted me enthusiastically.

"Naru said you were going to fill me in?" I prompted as I sat down.

"Straight to business then!" She said. I couldn't help but feel slightly uneasy around this woman. She had shown me that video and had implied she would have killed me if it wasn't for Naru. I could hardly feel safe.

"What is this business trip?" I asked.

"Every year, certain people from my line of work get together to discuss business." She said. "This year Naru will be attending and you know too much to be left behind."

"Do you mean private investigating or…?"

"You will need some formal clothing. Scrap that, you will need better clothing full stop." She said as she appraised my clothing choice. I noted that she had not answered my question.

"What's wrong with my clothing choice?" I asked, affronted.

"Well you will hardly look like you fit in if you dress like that."

"And all people in your line of work look a certain way, do they? Wouldn't that be suspicious?"

"No one would wear a disguise to this event."

"So what do I need?" I asked resignedly. This was utterly ridiculous.

"We will arrive at midday on Christmas Eve, that evening there will be a formal sit down dinner. You will need a decent kimono. However much you think you should pay for one; add a few more zeros to the price tag." She said. Her face looked bright and cheery, and I doubt that anyone watching us would suspect a thing, but her voice was cold. "On Christmas Day, there will be meetings that you won't be invited to and in the evening, there will be a ball. You will need a ball gown. For the rest of the time, you will need smart and well fitting looking clothing. Everyone leaves on Boxing Day."

"We? You're coming too?"

"Of course. As is Lin and… You know him as Yasuhara I believe."

"You expect me to believe that all these dangerous people just get together and nothing suspicious happens?"

"Yes." She said simply. "The security is tight. No one is allowed any weapons or communication devices and everyone is searched thoroughly before entering. No one is allowed to leave and re-enter during the event."

"But what about the police?" I asked and Mori-san smirked.

"Every year, whoever organises the event phones up the police and tells them where it is after the event. Just to rub it in their faces that they've yet to bust a meeting."

"Right…"

So I was going to be going to some place, presumably in the middle of nowhere, which would be full of potentially the most dangerous people in the world and I was just going to join in.

"You will be playing the part of Yasuhara's escort." Mori-san continued.

"Escort?"

"His whore." She smirked.

"I…" I could feel my face growing red at the idea. "I won't have to…"

"Of course not." Mori-san laughed. "Just in front of company."

"But why Yasuhara-san?"

"Naru is going with Hara-san and Lin would never take you."

I tried not to show my disappointment on my face, but wasn't entirely sure I managed it.

"Yasuhara will be teaching you to dance this evening. I imagine Naru will give you tomorrow off to buy the necessary items."

And sure enough, that evening at around 8pm someone else broke into my apartment.

"Hello Taniyama-san!" Yasuhara-san said from the corridor. I'll admit I jumped out of my skin at having someone other than Naru break in. I had been watching the news a moment before, there had been a report about a teacher named Matsuyama Hidehara who had been providing drugs to students. He had overdosed or something and died horrifically. The police suspected that Matsuyama might have had something to do with the death of a student named Sakauchi. It was a horrible thought.

"I suppose you got in the same way that Naru does." I muttered, clutching at my chest.

"Of course." He smiled apologetically. "Now, Taniyama-san, may I have the honour of this dance?" He held his arm out like something out of a movie, and grinning, I agreed.

And so Yasuhara-san taught me to dance. Or at least, he tried. Every time I thought I had the hang of this thing, I managed to trip or go the wrong way.

Yet after two hours of relentless training, I was able to fumble my way through a short song.

"How about we take a break?" He suggested and I nodded. Together we slumped on the sofa.

"Mori-san said I was going to be your escort." I said after a few minutes silence.

"Yes. It was Naru's idea I think." He agreed. "But don't worry; you won't have to do anything but cling to my arm a bit and smile."

"Promise?"

"Of course." He smiled graciously.

"Why are you going to this thing?"

"Part of the job." He said; holding up his left hand and wiggling his fingers. I noticed the little finger was missing up to the first joint. I frowned at it and he continued. "For a first offence, you have to cut off this much." He indicated.

"What did you do?"

"Don't ask questions you don't want to know the answer to." He said.

"What is it with you people and saying that?" I exclaimed in frustration.

"We say it because it frustrates curious young women."

I scowled at him.

"I know you're worried about this trip, but you needn't. It's been happening for years and there has yet to be a single death. It's too advantageous for the people going, you see? The Yakuza families make deals, and assassins and informants make new contacts and find new clients. It's sort of a win all round situation."

"But aren't some of these people deadly enemies or something?"

"Very few actually, most just want to conduct their own business. Occasionally a few people are tactically not invited but…"

"I see."

I studied Yasuhara-san's face for a moment. He looked so young and innocent. How could he be involved in this world? Naru, at the very least, had a serious face that fit in with the underworld image.

"He'll protect you, you know." Yasuhara-san said a minute later.

"Huh?"

"Naru, he'll protect you."

"How do you know him?" I asked, not wanting to continue down the path Yasuhara was leading the conversation to.

"We are in the same line of work." Yasuhara replied with ease. "I found out something he was interested in seeing and I have come to respect him for what he does."

"For killing people?" I asked, incredulous.

"Not exactly." He replied, but didn't elaborate.

"Naru told me that if I was ever caught by someone and asked about him, that I should tell the truth. Should I tell the truth about you?"

Yasuhara-san chuckled.

"Of course you should."

"Even if it's the police?"

"Especially if it's the police." He looked almost amused by my question.

I frowned. These two dangerous men, who were mixed up in the underworld, were telling me to snitch on them.

It was just all so confusing.

* * *

**Author's note: So I had a few questions from guests that I could not reply to in a private message so I will answer them here!**

**"**Y u stop rite the story" **I have not stopped writing this story. I did not update for two days. きのう、日本語のテストがありました。 Seriously, chill out Amanda.**

**"**U can rite one more before mi go home mi a go home bout in a dih 5:00" **No, I cannot write to a schedule just to please you Guest, unless you decide to pay me.**

**"**One isn't really about the did you come up with the idea for this?" **It came from an AU prompt I read on Tumblr that went something like "I'm an assassin that was using this place as a sniping point and my intel said it would be free all week but you've just come back" and thus this story was born...**

**"**Why does naru have such strong feelings toward mai but yet when she was interviewed he pointed a gun at her the story about naru getting raped by masoko a cover?" **I think this is meant to be two questions. He pointed the gun at her because he needed answers and had to show her he meant business. And no, that story was not a cover.**

**Otherwise I answered all the questions I could in private messages, if any of you have any more please don't hesitate to ask though of course I cannot promise I will answer everything because I really don't want to spoil it!**

**But if there is something you are desperate to know that I wouldn't tell you normally, I am open to bribes :P**

**Please review with your thoughts and guesses for what is going to happen! I love hearing them :)**


	19. Chapter 19

If Monday had been confusing, I'm not sure how I would classify Tuesday. I had expected for Naru to tell me to go shopping, as Mori-san had told me he would.

And he did.

But I did not expect for him to accompany me.

Nor did I expect him to drag me into a shop that there was no way I could ever afford.

If I was to be perfectly honest with myself, I hated shopping. Or rather, I hated shopping with other people there and watching me. I hated the look they got in their eyes when I picked something I liked and that they thought was awful. But Naru did not let me pick at all.

The first shop was full of traditional kimonos. All of them made from satin or silk and there wasn't a price tag in sight. I remembered something my mother had once told me: if you had to ask the price, you couldn't afford it.

"You are unmarried, so I supposed a furisode wouldn't be completely inappropriate." He muttered as he perused the silks. He had already waved away the eager assistant and I was stood rather awkwardly in the middle of the shop, too afraid to touch anything.

"But girls don't wear them until they come of age and legally can marry." I replied quietly.

"Girls can marry at the age of 16 with parental consent."

"Beside the point; try this on." He waved the assistant over and indicated the folded fabric. The assistant pulled me into the changing rooms and assisted with the kimono. It was pale pink embroidered with delicate gold flowers. The pattern was suited for spring, not winter, not that I expected Naru to understand that. It had the long sleeves as expected of the furisode style.

Once the assistant had tied the rich purple obi, she pushed me back into the main shop to show Naru. To be honest, I felt slightly ridiculous. If I had to wear a kimono of any sort I wanted to wear my mother's which fit me beautifully. Of course it wasn't nearly as nice as this one and had a few frays because it'd been passed down for so long but…

"Perfect." He said, looking me up and down once with his cold gaze before turning back to the assistant. "Arrange for it to be folded correctly and have all the relevant accessories with it, we'll be back in two hours for it."

Once I had changed back into my usual clothes, Naru led me out of the shop and down the street.

"I can't afford that kimono Naru!" I complained.

"You aren't paying for it." He replied simply.

"Why? Why are you doing this?" I asked as I hurried alongside him.

"To keep you safe." He said.

"Surely not coming at all is safer!"

"No. The police have already dragged you in once."

I continued to protest, but he stopped answering my questions. I sighed and gave up. Naru dragged me into another store and forced me to try on several smart daywear dresses. I felt like some sort of doll, being pushed around and into outfits for his amusement.

He ended up purchasing five different dresses and a few jackets to wear over them. They were the sort of thing I imagine one would wear to see stern grandparents in or for an interview. They weren't quite business wear, but not really every day either.

Next was a shop full of western style ball gowns. Again, there was a lack of price tags. I waited with my arms folded as Naru browsed.

"Wait." He said suddenly. I looked round to see him smirking. It wasn't his usual smirk, it looked slightly more dangerous. Before I could ask anything, he turned to the waiting assistant and spoke. "Take her to the changing rooms and blindfold her, I want it to be a surprise."

Scowling, I did as I was told and let the confused assistant cover my eyes with a strip of fabric. I had to admit, changing without being able to see anything was a pain in the butt. Not to mention awkward when the assistant informed me I would have to remove my bra.

Ten very difficult minutes later and after the assistant had laced me into some sort of bodice; she guided me out of the changing rooms. I could feel the fabric of the skirt brushing against things as I walked and could feel how smooth the fabric was, but I had no idea what on earth I looked like. This man enjoyed frustrating me too much.

"Beautiful." I heard him say.

"Can I look now?" I asked, unable to keep the annoyance out of my voice.

"In a minute." His voice suddenly sounded a lot closer. I felt large warm hands on my bare shoulders that gently turned me around. He gently released the blindfold from my eyes.

It took a few seconds for my eyes to readjust to the light, but when they did; my mouth fell open at the sight in the mirror.

I did not look like myself. The plain bodice gave my body more shape than I thought possible. It gave me a waist and the illusion of some cleavage. The full skirt, propped up by petticoats, was long and though it trailed slightly on the floor, made me look a little taller. Or perhaps I was just holding myself differently. There were no fancy details on the dress; it was just made of plain uninterrupted blood red satin that shimmered in the light so that some parts looked as dark as the night sky.

I did not look like the awkward 16 year old girl that I was, but a confident young woman.

Without realising it, tears had come to my eyes.

"Don't cry."

I looked up at his reflection, and then turned to face him for real.

"Yasuhara taught you to dance." He stated. "Show me." Naru held out his arms and I took up the position, ignoring the fact that I had bare feet. The skirt of the dress pushed backwards as I moved closer to him.

"He complained that I wouldn't let him lead." I said. "And he said that's why I kept tripping, because I wasn't following his signals."

"I don't intend to let you make the same mistake." Naru replied in a low voice. And he didn't. Though gentle, he led our dance with more force than Yasuhara-san had done the previous night. I could feel my body trying to make mistakes and yet he guided me out of them as we danced to a mental 1-2-3 rhythm. After a minute or so of silence dancing, my eyes never leaving his, he twirled me around and drew me in a lot closer than we had been when dancing.

I stared up at him with wide eyes and instantly regretted the harsh words of only a few days before; right now, I wanted nothing more than for him to kiss me.

His eyes were gazing into my own with such intensity that I was afraid to speak, almost afraid to breathe. I wasn't sure how long we stood like that before he released me.

I let a small smile grace my lips as I curtsied.

"We'll take it." He said to the assistant, who had watched the entire thing without batting an eyelid.

The assistant helped me out of the dress and informed us it would be ready to take away in a minimum of an hour.

"We'll return then."

"Where are going now?" I asked as he dragged me out of the shop.

"Mai, I have seen every single pair of pyjamas you own and none of them are suitable."

"Excuse me!" I exclaimed, causing several people to look round in alarm. "And what exactly am I going to be doing in my pyjamas?!" I hissed.

"Hopefully, sleeping." He replied darkly. "But if someone knocks on your door at night, you cannot answer it in Hello Kitty pyjamas."

"Why not?" I asked indignantly.

"Because it's utterly ridiculous."

And before I knew I was being pushed into yet another store and my face was turning red. Half the store was extremely risqué lingerie, and the other half was sleepwear. Why on earth had he picked this shop of all shops?!

I looked around at him for an answer, but he was smirking again, obviously amused by how mortified I was.

"Jerk." I muttered.

"We can buy you underwear too if you want." He said seriously with mirth dancing in his eyes.

"My underwear is just fine."

"I would beg to differ."

"And why would your opinion on my underwear matter to anyone?" I growled. But my frustration only seemed to gratify him further. "You self-satisfied narcissistic arse."

"I think you'll find that your embarrassment is the thing satisfying me right now. And considering I have spent the whole morning ensuring you look good, I would hardly think that 'narcissistic' is an appropriate choice of insult."

"So you admit you're an arse?" I countered quickly. Naru rolled his eyes.

Twenty minutes later, after Naru had made a few more decisions without asking for my opinion, we left the store and headed to a café for lunch.

"Are you going to be wearing traditional dress too?" I asked as we ate.

"Of course, as will Lin." He smirked at the thought.

"Will you dance with me at the ball?"

"You are going to be Yasuhara's partner." He replied; his smirk fading as he looked away.

"So?"

"It would be unwise. He will look after you."

"He said you would protect me."

"I am."

"Protect me from what?" I asked and he looked round. He stared into my eyes for a long time and I realised from the confusion in his eyes that he wasn't even sure himself of what he was protecting me from.

It wasn't until later, that I wondered if he was protecting me from himself.

And it wasn't until I was at home with my bags of shopping that I decided it was him who might need protection from me. I had made to hang up my new clothes to keep them smart before the weekend, and in the bag with my new pyjamas – that were made of soft midnight blue silk – was more than one set of matching and very tasteful lingerie.

I was going to murder him.

Right after I had found a way to stop my face burning.

* * *

"What are you grinning about?" Lin asked from his position in a chair by the window.

"I am not grinning." Naru scowled. Lin rolled his eyes.

"Yes you are. You are pulling the exact face you used to pull after pulling some sort of prank on unsuspecting person." Naru sniggered slightly and looked back down at his book. "Was it Taniyama-san?" Again, Naru did not respond. "What did you do to her?"

"I just brought her a few presents."

"What sort of presents?" Lin was pursing his lips.

"Just something that would make her blush." Naru smirked again. "She'll probably still be red faced tomorrow."

"You need to stop." Lin replied seriously.

"Stop what?"

"Toying with her." He replied. "Stop now, before you fall for her."

"As if you can talk." Naru said bitterly. "I see how you look at Madoka and so does she."

"Madoka is a grown woman who is fully aware of the situation, not a sixteen year old girl."

"Stop looking down on her because of her age, she's only a year younger than me. She has experienced hardships that some grown adults have not." Naru said coldly. "She is as tough as any of us."

"Naru, you know as well as I do that we will not be here much longer. You have commitments and she cannot be part of them." Lin said. "I know how it feels to care for someone you can't have and it hurts. Don't do it. Don't do it to either of you."

"I'm not doing anything."

"Of course you're not." Lin stood up. "But I would have thought that you of all people would know how dangerous it is in this trade to love someone. Goodnight." And he retreated for his bedroom.

Naru watched the man leave and scowled before attempting, without much conviction, to return his thoughts to his book.

* * *

**Author's note:**

"How u a trek so long wid mi story" **-**** What does this even mean Amanda?! I mean I think I would translate that as "how do you take so long with my story" but it's not your story so that can't be right... Please try and articulate yourself more carefully, I am happy to answer your questions but I need to understand them first!**

**But anyway, onto happier things.**

**EVERYONE has to go and read the oneshot that AmyNChan wrote for this story. It's not cannon to this story, but it's existence made me so happy. So go and check it out because its really good, its in her Ghost Hunt Oneshots story, chapter 25. I always thought that if I ever wrote something properly and had it published, I would judge my ability on whether or not it was 'fanfiction' worthy. As in, someone else wrote fanfiction for it. And now AmyNChan has written fanfiction for my fanfiction... *excuses self for a minute while I squeal a bit more*.**

**Okay, calmed down now!**

**I hope you enjoyed the bit of fluff in this chapter, because the next chapter will be them heading to a creepy old mansion for a suspicious ball...**

**Please review with your thoughts and predictions! And then go check out the oneshot! And her other stories! :P**


	20. Chapter 20

When I arrived at work on Wednesday, Naru had decided that I would be using an assumed name for this 'business trip'. He said I could chose it, but as soon as I had, he decided to use it for the rest of the week to 'help' me get used to it.

Tanizawa Mikiko.

He had suggested keeping the initial sounds similar to my real name as I would be more likely to naturally react to the sounds.

And as we – Naru, Yasuhara-san and I - sat in the Aston Martin DB9 on Christmas Eve, I found myself reacting to my new name without a second glance. Yasuhara-san had insisted that I call him Echigoya. And Naru had once again assumed the façade of Narumi Kazuo.

We had been driving for hours, stopping only for a refuel and some food. Lin and Madoka were arriving separately, this was a fact that Naru seemed somewhat aggravated by.

We arrived at exactly midday. The mansion was in the middle of nowhere and surrounded by a deep forest.

I stepped out of the car after taking Yasuhara-san's hand. I was wearing one of my new day dresses and, not that I would ever admit it, one of the new sets of underwear.

Yasuhara-san, acting the perfect gentleman, carried some of my luggage for me. I had a case for my new furisode, a case for my ball gown, a case just for the petticoat and finally case for my normal clothes. It wasn't like any of the cases were particularly heavy, but they were bulky.

We were greeted by a man named Oohashi-san who guided us to our rooms after an extensive search and full body scan. They had one of those machines that they have in airports. The mansion was the weirdest thing I had ever seen. There were staircases in the middle of walls and filled in doors and windows and random changes in elevation.

Naru had warned me against speaking so I could not ask any questions about why this place was so weird. Though he had given me some information about the owner; Urado.

Urado wasn't his real name, but Naru wouldn't tell me that. But he was very high up in 'the business' and had a very nasty way of getting rid of his enemies. It took me an hour of badgering Naru to find out what that was and once I knew, I really wished I hadn't asked.

Apparently, he captures his enemies and lets them bleed out into a bath tub and then bathes in it. When Naru told me this, I remembered one of the crappy American horror films I had seen. I think it was called Hostel? But something similar happened in that.

The point Naru stressed was to keep away from that man at all costs. So here I was, taking advice from one assassin on avoiding another.

As I was to be Yasuhara-san's escort, I was sharing a room with him. Much to my disgust, Naru had been paired with Hara-san; though I had a feeling she had something to do with that.

Naru avoided me all afternoon, so Yasuhara-san and I went exploring. As instructed, I clung to his arm like some sort of love crazed worshiper whenever there was someone in sight. Yasuhara-san found this all very funny.

Eventually we returned to our room to dress for the evening meal. Yasuhara-san was dressed wearing a plain navy and white kimono. He ended up helping me tie my obi. Excluding the time in the shop, the last time I had worn a kimono was at my mother's funeral. The thought brought tears to my eyes and I quickly blinked them away.

We had been about to go down for dinner when there was a knock on the door, Yasuhara-san signalled for me to wait by the bed and I did as I was told. He opened the door a fraction and peeked out.

But when he realised who it was, he let Naru in and shut the door behind him.

"Hello." I greeted him. He too was wearing a kimono. Unsurprisingly, it was entirely black. "Why all the black?" I asked jovially. "It's like you're in mourning or something."

I noticed Yasuhara-san flinch out of the corner of my eye, but didn't say anything. And as usual, Naru didn't say anything either.

Instead, he walked closer and drew something out from some hidden pocket. I did not see what it was until he was sweeping some of my hair from the side of my face and fixing it with the clip.

"Better." He said before turning away and leaving.

I turned to look in the mirror. It was a beautiful little clip, adorned with what I would have guessed to be opals.

"Well I look like a rather crappy date after that." Yasuhara-san joked. "Shall we?" He offered me his arm.

The meal was frightfully dull. The food was pretty good and I spent a lot of time trying to work out the code these people were using.

Naru and Masako were sat at another table with Madoka and Lin and a few other people we didn't know. What shocked me most was that Lin as not wearing a kimono like almost everyone else in the room, but a changshan. Was he Chinese?

I would have to ask him later. If I dared.

Yasuhara-san was talking with a middle aged man when desert was served. The man's name was Minami Reimei and as I sliced a piece of my cheesecake, I tried to tune into their conversation.

"So Minami-san, has business been kind to you this year?" Yasuhara-san had said.

"Yes!" Minami-san laughed a laugh that made me want to crawl up inside myself. "Atsugi-kun here helped me finalise the deal with Oliver Davis." He gestured to the young man sat beside him.

"Is that so?" Yasuhara-san asked. "That must've been a tough deal."

"Not at all." He laughed again.

"I'd love to hear more about that sometime, I know a lot of people were after a deal with him."

"Ah, well I can't give away all my secrets now can I?"

"I would've thought his circumstances would have put such a deal off the table." Yasuhara-san replied. "I suppose you knew about that incident?"

"Of course!" Minami-san replied far too quickly and I'm sure Yasuhara-san picked up on it too. Perhaps Minami-san thought he'd been rumbled because he struck up conversation with the elderly woman at our table. I think her name was Igarashi-san.

Yasuhara-san did not pressure Minami-san any further, but turned to Iharashi-san's assistant, Suzuki Naoko, and began flirting. He really was an awful date.

I returned to my food, but couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching me.

At the end of the meal, drinks were served and a small string quartet was playing in one corner. All of the guests were milling about and chatting as if this was the after party of a wedding or something. It was very disconcerting.

I stayed by Yasuhara-san's side, not saying anything and smiling politely at everyone.

It wasn't until 9pm that Naru re-joined us. Thankfully, Hara-san was not with him.

"Narumi!" Yasuhara-san said grabbing him cheerfully. "There is just someone you have to meet!" He was acting as though slightly tipsy; even though I know he hadn't had anything alcoholic to drink.

"Who?" Naru asked, who was also smiling as if he was enjoying the event.

"Minami-san!" Yasuhara-san called and Minami-san, who wasn't far away, reluctantly came over. "This man finalised the deal with Oliver Davis." Yasuhara-san said to Naru by way of an introduction. And finally, Naru looked genuinely interested.

"I should thank you." He said as he bowed to Minami-san.

"Whatever for?"

"Oliver Davis finalised the deal with my brother." Naru said with a horribly cold look in his eyes. And any suspicions I had about what 'finalising' meant were immediately removed and replaced with a certain fact; this Oliver Davis had killed Naru's brother.

I wasn't sure what was more shocking; the fact that Naru had a brother, or that his brother must also be in this trade. Was assassination a family business? I snorted at the thought and Yasuhara-san looked around at me.

"Sorry." I whispered and Yasuhara-san laughed.

"Echigoya, might I have a word? You can bring your friend." Naru said and Yasuhara-san nodded. We left the hall and walked until we found somewhere that appeared private.

"What is this about?" Yasuhara-san asked.

"_They have found the tape._" He said and I frowned. He had agreed to me coming because they were going to talk in English. What a jerk.

"_How?_"

"_Madoka just told me earlier it had been planted in your apartment, the detectives were suspicious of your finger and took your absence as an opportunity to take a look. You cannot return to work for the police if they know._"

"_Damn, I was enjoying it._" Yasuhara-san suddenly seemed to realise something. "_This means they will know why you are here. Even if they don't know who you are._"

"_Yes, that is another problem._"

"We'll I'm just going to go to bed if you are going to talk about things I can't understand." I huffed and made to walk away from them both. Unfortunately, it's hard to walk fast in a damn kimono.

Naru caught my arm and dragged me back without even looking around.

"Thank you for introducing me to Minami-san." He said to Yasuhara-san.

"I thought you'd find that entertaining." Yasuhara-san was smirking.

"Highly." Naru looked down at me. "You did well today. You should both head to bed and don't forget to lock the door."

Naru left us and Yasuhara-san began guiding me back to our room.

"Are you going to explain any of that?" I asked hopefully.

"Nope."

* * *

**Author's note: So I am not completely happy with the chapter, but the next one should be more fun!**

**Now in response to AmyNChan's little piece, I wrote my own semi-canon fanfic of this fanfic (FANFICEPTION much!) so please check it out. It's called An Alternative Hint. It's not a serious piece so take it all with a pinch of salt...**

**Now to reply to my "feisty" guest reviewers as one kind reviewer called them****...**

"Shut yo trap it was a mis take ! Rite more ok" **Hi Amanda, telling people to shut their traps isn't very nice.**

"Y UNO rite dih story lik naru came pan one mission and I'm meet Mia n dem fall in love n wen she fine out sah I'm a one assassin dem almost brake up n shi fine out sah shi pregnant n naru enemy dem want kill r mi mah sah yo story no sound gud but I wudda lik it dat way ok thank" **Hi Kim, if you want such a story, pay someone to write it or write it yourself. I will not write my story your way.**

**And finally, I suppose I ought to let you all know that I have exams starting in less than two weeks and I really ought to do some work for them, so my update speed might reduce! I doubt it will by much because I love writing this too much! But if I go 3-4 days without updating as opposed to 1 day then don't be surprised!**

**And as usual, please review with your thoughts and predictions and questions!**


	21. Chapter 21

"You were staring at her all evening you know?" Masako said as she began undoing her black and red kimono.

"She is my assistant I have to ensure her safety." Naru replied coldly. He was looking out of the window of their shared room.

"Why is she here? I had the impression she had no idea who you really were?"

"She doesn't." Naru said. "She knows I kill people. She knows about Echigoya. The police had called her in for questioning and I can't risk them pulling her in again."

"I see." Masako purred. "You like her don't you?"

Naru turned at her question to find Masako standing by the bed in nothing but her underwear. It was black and red like her kimono had been. Naru held eye contact as he responded.

"I don't see what that has anything to do with."

"You want her." Masako said as she strutted towards him. Once beside his body she began undoing his obi. "I can be her for your tonight if you want." She pulled his kimono down off his shoulders and ran a finger down his bare chest. "You can call me by her name if you want." She whispered her words seductively.

"No."

At his words Masako stepped back in slight shock.

"What?"

"You can force me into doing whatever you like but I will not pretend that you are her."

"Why does she get your attention? What is so special about her?" Masako asked bitterly.

"There is nothing special about her, she is just my assistant." Naru said before walking into the bathroom and closing the door behind him.

* * *

I woke early on Christmas morning. Naru had banned me from bring presents and cards for people. But looking back on it, I wasn't sure what I would have got an assassin for Christmas anyway. What do you buy an assassin? Socks?

It had been weird sharing a bed. Yasuhara-san had stayed on his side and hadn't made the slightest attempt at inappropriate behaviour, but it was still weird.

As I had woken first, I picked out a dress and showered quickly.

"Can you get dressed in here so I can shower?" Yasuhara-san asked through the door as I towelled my body dry.

"Sure!" I replied and wrapped the towel around my body before leaving the bathroom. Yasuhara-san darted in and I began to dress. It was only as I pulled on the dress that I realised I would be unable to do up the zip and the back.

Not that that fact stopped me from trying. I contorted my body into a multitude of positions trying to inch the zipper upwards.

A knock on the door halted my limited progress.

I walked over to the door and went to open it, before remembering that Naru had banned me from opening the door.

"Who is it?" I called through the door.

"Me." Naru's voice responded. I unlocked and opened the door to let him in. He shut the door behind him and smirked.

"What?" I asked.

"Come here."

Frowning, I walked over to him and he spun me around. I felt his hand on the zipper as he did up my dress.

"Nice underwear." He muttered and my face went scarlet. I might've been wearing another one of the sets he had bought. In my defence, they were really comfy!

"Taniyama-san, who are you talking to?" Yasuhara-san's voice came through the bathroom door.

"Naru." I replied as Yasuhara-san walked out in nought but a towel.

"What brings you here?" Yasuhara-san asked.

"Just checking up on you both." Naru replied.

"Don't worry, Taniyama-san and I had a lot of fun in the shower." Yasuhara-san teased. My already red face deepened in colour.

"We did no such thing!" I protested, but Yasuhara-san only laughed.

"I will see you during the meetings today." Naru said before leaving.

"Why did you say that to him?" I demanded of Yasuhara-san.

"He knew it was a joke. I was only teasing the pair of you."

"The pair of us? We aren't an item!" I protested. "I don't like him like that!"

"I never said you did." Yasuhara-san smirked and picked up his suit before returning to the bathroom. What a git.

* * *

I was not allowed in any of the meetings as a mere escort to Yasuhara-san. Instead I was shown to a room with several other girls in the same position as me.

It was very awkward. Most of these girls were a lot prettier than me and a lot more confident in themselves. Some talked like old friends and others just stared at the wall.

I had taken a seat by the window and was watching some birds fly about. I wasn't entirely sure what I was supposed to be doing to be honest. Then Hara-san sat down beside me.

"Aren't you supposed to be in the meetings?" I asked curiously.

"Not much for me to discuss in there." She replied.

"What are they talking about?" I asked with interest.

"Problems that face them all."

"Like what?"

"Like people that work on the other side." She replied mysteriously. "The big topic this year is the Scientist of course."

"What?"

"It's a codename." She explained and I wondered why she was telling me these things. "There was a duo, the Scientist and the Medium. The Medium was taken out earlier this year, but the Scientist remains at large."

"Oh. I see." I said, unsure of how I was supposed to respond. "Why are they called that?"

"The Medium was a master infiltrator, could get himself into anywhere and mediate any deal. The Scientist is a cold blooded killer, no emotion and no remorse. He's clinical and meticulous in never leaving any evidence of his presence unless he wants it there; it's become something of a calling card." She said. I did not like the way her eyes were dancing with mirth. As if by telling me this she was getting some sort of sick pleasure from it. "They were the perfect team."

"Who killed the Medium?"

"A friend of mine." She smiled. I looked away from her smile and back out at the birds.

* * *

Dinner was served an hour before the ball and I ate quickly before hurrying with Yasuhara-san up to our room. He changed in the bathroom before helping me into my dress. This was the part of the trip I was most looking forward to, but who wouldn't when they got to wear such a beautiful dress?

"I can see why he likes you." Yasuhara-san said as I twirled for him. "You look beautiful."

"You think he likes me because I look good in a dress?" I frowned.

"No, I think he likes you because of the innocent beauty you have." Yasuhara-san replied seriously. "You've been dragged into this world and yet you haven't lost yourself to it."

"You haven't though?"

"Perhaps not, but I don't think I'm his type." He grinned and I laughed. Yasuhara-san offered me his arm and I took it. He led me though the labyrinth that made up the mansion down to the ballroom.

Music was already playing and couples already dancing. It was like something out of a princess movie.

"May I have the honour of this dance?" Yasuhara-san asked me.

"You may." I replied. And we danced song after song until my feet hurt. I could feel Naru's eyes on me but in that moment I didn't care. Yasuhara-san was telling me funny stories as he twirled me about the dancefloor. It made me forget that Hara-san was dancing with Naru and every other man in the room. It made me forget what she had told me earlier. It made me forget that I was surrounded by murderers and monsters.

"Let's get a drink." Yasuhara-san suggested. We walked over to the makeshift bar and Yasuhara-san asked for two glasses of water. Though no one listened to the usual age restriction of twenty for drinking alcohol here, Naru had warned us against getting drunk. And to be perfectly honest, I did not think it would be a good idea considering present company.

"Who's Hara-san talking to now?" I asked. Yasuhara-san looked round to look at Hara-san, who was wearing a rich purple dress with a risqué thigh slit and talking to an elderly man.

"She has balls. That's Urado."

"The man who's running this? The one Naru told us to stay away from?"

"Yes." Yasuhara-san frowned after Hara-san. "I'm sure she'll be fine."

"Are Lin and Madoka a thing?" I asked, nodding towards where they were dancing slowly.

"No, but he wishes they were."

"Does she not like him?"

"She will not entertain the idea." Yasuhara-san replied sadly.

We finished our drinks and returned to the dance floor, refreshed from the brief respite.

* * *

Hara Masako stepped out of the ballroom, closed the door behind her and sighed with her back against the door. Social functions were always such effort.

Not to mention the glaringly obvious fact that _someone_ had definitely been stealing the show.

When she had first heard that the little runt of an assistant was accompanying her date to this event, she presumed it was to act as his maid or something, not to accompany another man. And yet it wasn't the other man whose attention the runt had stolen.

Her date had assumed the façade of Narumi Kazuo, though almost everyone had fake names at this event. Everything was false. The business conducted was hidden in a mutual code just in case anyone was listening.

But there had been one thing that had not been fake: the look in Narumi Kazuo's eyes when he had been looking at the runt. What was her name? Taniyama?

Masako did not care. When they were out of this place she would deal with the assistant. She had thought she had made herself clear before, but evidently not…

Sighing once more, Masako leant down and pulled her strappy heels from her feet. She groaned as her feet adjusted to the suddenly flat floor and began walking back to their room.

Her long dark purple dress trailed on the floor. On every alternate step, her left leg made an appearance through the thigh high slit.

There had been a surprising number of women at the event, and yet Masako had still received the most attention. Almost every man had had his eyes on her as she had strut around, flaunting her body. She had winked at the men she had known and shared knowing smiles. And she had danced with those that she had not known; making new connections.

Her father would be proud, she thought bitterly.

* * *

Narumi Kazuo watched the brunette dancing with the informant. She was laughing at a joke Echigoya had just told her as they fumbled their way around the dance floor.

"You're staring." Lin pointed out.

"So what?" He replied curtly. "You were staring at Madoka."

"Have you had any leads?" Lin asked, ignoring the young man's words.

"Yes, but I am not discussing them here." The young man stood up. "I'm going for a walk."

Lin did not protest, so Narumi left the hall as Hara-san had done twenty minutes before. He did not want to go back to the room he and Hara-san had been forced into sharing.

He turned into the corridor that would lead furthest from that room and began striding purposefully down it. This mansion was of an odd design. It had doors that led nowhere and stair cases going sideways. But Narumi had long since gotten used to the layout.

And he needed to clear his head.

* * *

It was nearing midnight when I noticed Naru slip back into the ballroom. He walked straight towards Yasuhara-san and me.

"Might I cut in?" He asked.

"Do you mind?" Yasuhara-san asked me and I shook my head.

Naru took the hold and we began dancing much like we had in the shop. Again, he was slightly more forceful than Yasuhara-san, but infinitely more graceful as a result.

"You look beautiful." He whispered.

"Yasuhara-san said so." I replied. "But it's just the dress."

"No, the dress is just fabric, you make it beautiful."

"Are you drunk?"

He rolled his eyes in reply.

"Was your business successful earlier?" I asked.

"Somewhat." Naru replied. "We will not be returning to Tokyo tomorrow."

"Where are we going?"

"To the sea." He said. "To a place where rebels meet their end and lovers jump into the sea."

"That sounds like poetry." I remarked and a small smile graced his lips.

"Just a reference to local legends of the area."

"Are they stories I want to hear?" I enquired tentatively.

"There was a princess who had a lowly lover. They were forbidden from being each other by her family, but that didn't stop them sending messages to each other. She was promised to someone else that she did not love. They agreed to meet and run away, but there was a mix up." Naru told me. "She arrived at the true location to find her lover standing over her deceased betrothed. They knew they could not run away any longer and so jumped into the sea. It was said the gods took pity on them and immortalised them as rocks so they could always be together."

"That's so sad."

The song ended and we stopped dancing.

"Will you walk with me?" Naru asked gently and I nodded before taking his arm. He looked handsome in his suit, even though he had donned his usual black shirt. Naru guided me out of the ballroom and down a few corridors. We arrived a few minutes later at a sort of balcony area. "I want to thank you for helping me." He said quietly.

Then something caught my eye, over the doorway to the balcony was a bunch of a green plant with white buds.

"Mistletoe." I whispered.

"It's probably full of nargles." He said and I laughed softly at his uncharacteristic nonsense.

"Did the princess in your story ever get to kiss her lover?" I asked with wide eyes.

"I don't know." He looked down at me with an intense look in his eyes.

"Will this princess get to?" I made the skirt of my dress swish around a little and hoped he caught my meaning.

"A princess can demand anything she likes of her subjects."

"Then the princess would very much like to, if her subject is willing." I said gently, trying not to lose myself in the gorgeous depths of his eyes.

But his eyes were getting closer and closer.

And then they disappeared as his lips descended on mine.

* * *

**Author's note: Well that just happened. I am 100x happier with this chapter than the last one! I hope those of you that read An Alternative Hint recognised some content!**

**I also did the unspeakable and wrote a plan for the remainder of this story and might've accidentally written the ending and omg its so perfect - it has my favourite one word Dr Who quote in it - I want to post it now but I can't.**

**There was a distinct lack of feisty reviewers for the last chapter! Which is a shame, I do love my feisty reviewers!**

**Now as I said, I might've written the ending and I wanted to post a teaser or something and I think I've found a bit I can post that won't give too much away and at the same time get you all nice and worried about what is going to happen. **

**So if you guys would like a teaser at the end of the next chapter, let me know in your reviews along with your thoughts and prediction!**

**P.S. If you review with a persuasive enough argument I will send a teaser to you personally because I'm... I would say nice but I know what the teaser might do to you, so cruel would be more accurate!**


	22. Chapter 22

When I woke the next morning I wondered if the whole thing had been a dream. I knew he could not openly show affection but at breakfast he was surprisingly cold.

"Are you alright Narumi?" Yasuhara-san asked, obvious to my concern.

"I'm fine. I just had an… An interesting night." He replied. The way he said those words made me wonder if something else had happened apart from our intimate moment.

We returned to our rooms after breakfast to pack, but I had barely finished closing my suitcase when Naru burst into our room.

"What is it?" Yasuhara-san asked.

"Hara-san is missing."

"What?"

"She never came back after breakfast."

"_Wouldn't it be better if she stayed missing? She was speaking to Urado yesterday._"

"_Not considering what she knows, she could be telling anyone anything about me. Mai isn't the only one I have to keep an eye on._" Naru replied to Yasuhara-san in English and I scowled at them both upon hearing my name. I resolved to work harder at school.

"Then let's find her."

"Can't you two talk in Japanese? Like seriously I get you are trying to hide something from me but who the hell am I going to tell?"

"I will get Lin and Madoka." Naru said, ignoring my question.

I glared after him, annoyed by his concern for Hara-san and his lack of regard for my questions. Then I remembered that he probably had bigger worries right now and felt bad for my reaction.

And so our search began. We informed the staff who aided us and set off in the other direction with Mori-san and Lin. Yet by lunchtime neither hide nor hair of Hara-san had been seen.

We did find Minami-san and Atsugi-san though. Someone had cut their throats.

I gagged when I saw it and before I knew it, Yasuhara-san had guided me to the bathroom. If seeing it was bad, the smell was awful. The fresh blood that had poured from their necks pooled on the ground.

"Who did that? We weren't allowed any weapons!" I gasped between dry heaves.

"You honestly think that flimsy airport style security stopped Madoka?" Naru said as we continued our search.

"You think she killed him? But why?"

"If she didn't, someone else would have done. He was claiming to have killed someone that he has not." Yasuhara-san answered.

"That Oliver Davis person? The person that killed your brother?"

But Naru did not respond.

Then a sudden hoarse scream sounded from ahead of us and we all began to run towards it. It had been low and I suspected male. So it probably was not Hara-san but still, it might've given us some clue to her whereabouts and we couldn't just leave someone in distress.

Naru made to open the door at the end of the hall but it was locked. Yasuhara-san gestured and Naru stepped back. I watched as Yasuhara-san fiddled with it for a minute and then the lock clicked.

Naru pushed me behind him before opening the door.

Urado was lying on the floor; dead.

Hara-san was standing by the window.

"What happened?" Naru demanded.

"Some guys just can't hold their arsenic." Hara-san replied without looking around.

"Why did you kill him?"

"Why do any of us kill anyone?" She said. I thought her voice sounded sad and far away. "I was told too." And her voice cracked.

She turned and I saw tears streaming down her face. Her mascara was smudged and her cheeks were read.

A sudden thought struck me, Naru had told me she had been used for sex and finding out secrets, but that didn't mean she'd killed. Perhaps, just maybe, this was her first kill. I felt the odd urge to go and comfort her.

"If this is how you are handling the situation you are not cut out for this." Naru said harshly. "We need to get out of here."

"Naru! Don't be an arse!" I walked past the dead body, trying my hardest not to look at it, and fished a clean tissue out of my pocket. "Here, your makeups smudged a bit."

Hara-san stared at me with wide eyes before taking the tissue and wiping her tear tracked face. I think she was shocked at my kindness. I suppose her reaction wasn't entirely unexpected, what person would comfort someone who had just poisoned someone else? This whole business with Naru had seriously screwed up my ideas of wrong at right. Mentally, I sighed.

"Yasuhara, take Mai and Hara-san back to our rooms and collect the belongings. I expect you by the car in five minutes." Naru said as he gazed intently around the room. "I will find Lin and Madoka."

I ushered Hara-san out of the room, with Yasuhara-san close behind, and away from the third dead body I'd seen that day. Little did I know that it would not be the last I would see in the next few days.

Five minutes later and we were passing security and climbing into the car. We had not alerted them to the presence of Urado's dead body; doing so would mean war amongst the remaining guests for violation of what was essentially a peace treaty between gangs. They would find the body in their own time and no one would know.

Hara-san, who had arrived separately, joined us in leaving. I wasn't sure if Naru was protecting her or what. But we were quickly on the road and speeding away from the mansion, Lin and Madoka's car behind us. Hara-san had calmed down before we passed through security, her face regaining its usual composure.

"Are you okay?" I whispered to her and she stared at me again with wide eyes before nodding slightly. "It'll be okay." I added reassuringly, not that I had any idea of what it was that would be okay. I did not know if she could live with the guilt of murdering someone. Even if that someone was a bad person, as Naru had claimed Urado to be.

We had been driving for no more than five minutes when a sudden explosion caused as all – well all of us apart from Naru, who was driving – to look around. A large mushroom cloud was billowing into the cloud.

"What did you do?" I shrieked at Naru. He had to be responsible.

"It was just a little bomb." He replied with a smirk. "I was covering up Hara-san's murder."

"How on earth did you get a bomb in there?" I leant forward in my seat to watch what I could see of his face for a reaction.

"Didn't I tell you not to underestimate Madoka's ability?" He replied coldly.

"Why did you do that?" Hara-san asked. "I did not need that covered up."

"I did not cover it up for you benefit." Naru said. "But you are now accompanying me and you know where I am going, don't you? Leaving you behind would have been foolish and I don't want to give them any clues. A bomb will have them all scared and distracted."

"But you could've seriously hurt someone!" I protested.

"Mai, I hope you realise how stupid that statements sounds."

Hara-san laughed and I looked round at her.

"Well it is." She protested weakly and I couldn't help but smile a little.

"Where are we going?"

"I told you before."

"The sea?"

"Yes." Naru said. Besides me, Hara-san inhaled sharply and I looked around at her.

"You all know where we are going and I don't?" I surmised.

"I don't know for certain, but I have an idea." Yasuhara-san said from the passenger seat.

"But no one will tell me exactly where?"

"I did tell you." Naru said coldly.

"Yeah because the sea isn't like 71% of the world's surface or something." I replied flippantly.

But Naru ignored me and hit a button the dashboard and a ringing sound filled the car. The person at the other end of the call picked up. "Lin? Madoka? Just follow this car."

"Will do." Lin said.

"Talk later." And he hung up.

* * *

**Author's note: Okay so I'm not entirely happy with this chapter, it's short and I feel it's a bit rushed but eugh. Sorry for not updating in forever! I had a Japanese oral and stuffs.**

**AMANDA CALM DOWN I DIDN'T UPDATE FOR TWO DAYS.**

**And to the guest that asked about Wattpad. I now have a Wattpad account but I have nothing posted on there. If anyone would like me to upload my stories to the site I am happy to do it!**

**And now for the most exciting bit!**

**If you want a teaser, please go to YouTube and type "a hint of a threat teaser snavej" and you should find a dorky video of me reading out the teaser. I have done it this way so that my guest reviewers can see it too! Because some of you don't want the teaser so I otherwise would've had to message it to you.**

**I have also done a reading of one of AmyNChan's oneshots. And she has done one of mine on her YouTube account. And then we read out the Alternatives we wrote for this story in each other's accents so please check those out because it's hilarious and my American accent is so bad... **

**If you guys like the video thing, I am totally up for reading out entire stories so you can listen to them as audio books or whatever - cos I love audio books so yeah...**

**Please review with your thoughts and if you watch the videos leave messages about them here too XD I'll see if I can post links of the things on my profile page thingy...**

**Please review!**


	23. Chapter 23

As Naru drove us to 'the sea', I stared out of the window at the passing countryside. My mind wandered back to the previous night.

I blushed at my own boldness. It'd be like something out of a princess movie. Except in a princess movie, usually the princess is kissed by a prince, not an assassin, but I'll take what I can get.

"Care to share Taniyama-san?" Yasuhara-san interrupted my thoughts. I spun around to look at him smirking at my red cheeks. "Looks like you were definitely thinking something interesting?" He prompted.

"Nothing!" I stammered quickly. Hara-san was also giving me a weird look. As if she was judging how much I was worth or something.

"Mai, when we arrive, you are to continue assuming the role of Tanizawa Mikiko." Naru said, ignoring the previous conversation and I was grateful that he drew the attention away from me.

"So I'm still being Yasuhara-san's escort? Or should I still refer to you as Echigoya-san?"

"Yasuhara is fine." Yasuhara-san said. "And perhaps not escort?"

"No, that would be inappropriate." Naru agreed. "Girlfriend would be more suitable. We can be couples visiting the seaside. _Do you have your real ID on you?_"

"_No, I didn't think it wise in case we were searched at the mansion._" Yasuhara-san responded and I scowled again.

"_What do you mean? Real ID?_" Hara-san said from beside me. Damn, why could everyone in this world speak English apart from me?!

"_None of your business._" Naru's voice was cold. It was very tempting just to spout all the English words I knew.

* * *

"Ayako, I have just received intelligence that a one Narumi Kazuo has booked into a motel."

"What? Where?" The red headed detective turned to her colleague.

"A few hours away by car, if we left now we could reach there by morning." Takigawa-san replied. "Do you think it is really him?"

"It's an alias we know he's been using, it'd be daft not to check it up."

"Do you think he knows?"

"That we are on to him? Probably." Matsuzuki-san said.

"It's almost as if he is inviting us."

"Perhaps he knows his game is up."

* * *

I had to admit, Hara-san's behaviour once we arrived at the motel completely shocked me. Naru booked us three double rooms under the guise of a group of couples going away for a winter holiday. But as Naru passed Yasuhara-san the keys, Hara-san took Yasuhara-san arm and led him away.

"Come on dear," she said. "Let's get to bed."

I frowned after her, that hadn't been the plan.

"MIkiko, do you plan on staring or coming to bed?" Naru said to me.

"Yeah…" I replied slowly. Lin and Mori-san were already making their way up and Hara-san and Yasuhara-san were out of sight.

Once in our room, Naru searched it while I changed in the bathroom, then he searched that too.

"She won't hurt Yasuhara-san will she?" I asked, genuinely worried.

"No. As you saw earlier she is not made for killing. I think she has just come to the realisation that things do not always go her way." Naru said coldly. "You should sleep."

"What about you?" I returned. "You drove for hours today, you need rest."

"Someone needs to keep a lookout."

"I'll do it." I said immediately.

"You'll fall asleep." He said accusingly.

"Then we can take turns?" I pleaded. "Seriously, you need some rest."

He studied me for a moment, then nodded.

"Sit by the window and keep an eye out. If anyone new arrives, you wake me up. If not, wake me after three hours."

"Okay." I did not argue, knowing this was the best I would get from him.

Naru did not change for bed like I had done. He only took off his shoes and curled up under one of the blankets. I took a seat by the window and stared out of it.

Truth be told, I was scared of going to sleep. I had seen three dead bodies that day and was fearful they would visit me in my dreams. I briefly wondered if Naru ever had trouble sleeping. It didn't look like it, his torso was rising and falling slowly.

My thought's drifted back to Hara Masako. Was her going off with Yasuhara-san her way of an apology? A demented attempt at righting some of the things she had done wrong?

I couldn't get the look of horror her face had shown once we had found her out of my head. Perhaps it had changed her a bit. And despite everything, I hoped she would be okay.

* * *

"_You should rest_." Madoka said.

"_So should you_." Lin countered.

"_Noll will be keeping watch, you can relax._"

"_Did you see him last night?_" Lin asked. "_He danced with her._"

"_I danced with you, Lin. You know nothing can happen. Stop wanting it to._"

"_I can't._"

Madoka smiled sadly up at the tall Chinese man and then she sighed.

"_Noll will keeping watch, come to bed._"

"_What are you saying?_" Lin asked, taken aback.

"_We can pretend, for one night._"

"_Pretend what?_"

"_That this was under different circumstances. That we really are a group of couples on holiday together._" Madoka laughed to herself. "_The hotel staff would be surprised if they didn't hear any of us shacking up tonight._"

Lin's eyes widened as Madoka grabbed his hand and pulled him closer.

"_We can't…_" He stammered. But she silenced him with a kiss.

* * *

I woke Naru after three hours of sleep.

"Thank you." He muttered as he took my vacant seat. I climbed under the blanket he had vacated and soaked in the warmth.

"I don't want to sleep." I whispered.

"Nightmares?" He guessed and I nodded. "I will wake you if you seem to be having one."

I didn't feel entirely comforted, but lay down nonetheless.

"Will you talk to me? Until I fall asleep?" I asked, not making eye contact. I was surprised to hear Naru chuckle slightly.

"My brother was the same, at first anyway. He was never very good with the bodies. He got used to it over time, but I would still do what I could to prevent him from having to deal with them. But he'd ask me to distract him so he could fall asleep."

"He wasn't like you?"

"His skills laid in other areas." Naru replied.

"I'm sorry for your loss." I said and I saw Naru nod his appreciation.

"Close your eyes Mai." He said gently and I did as I was told. "Think about the ball, okay? Think about happy things." I was surprised at his words, but tried to focus on the events of the previous night. Then Naru began humming the waltz we had danced to.

And slowly, I fell asleep.

When I woke, it was bright and early. Naru was still staring out of the window. When he noticed I was awake, he told me to shower and dress. I did as instructed and ended up lending Hara-san some more practical clothes than her kimono.

Breakfast was an awkward affair, Lin and Mori-san seemed to be avoiding each other's eyes and it made me wonder what had happened between them. I was silently glad not to be in their car.

Hara-san was very quiet and Yasuhara-san was talking to Naru about the news or something dull.

We left soon after breakfast and continued on our way to the sea.

"So what happened between Lin and Madoka?" Yasuhara-san broached the subject after a few minutes silence.

"Judging by how red his face was, I would ascertain a guess that they did a little more than sleep last night." Hara-san said.

"I though you said Mori-san wouldn't consider the idea?" I pouted at Yasuhara-san.

"She shouldn't have." Naru said from the driver's seat. "The pair of them are pathetic." And with that, the conversation fell silent until we arrived at the coast. We were at the top of a sheer cliff. The sea was sparkling blue in the cold winter's sun.

Naru parked the car outside a building with a sign that read: Yoshimi Restaurant and Inn.

"Let's eat before we go for a walk." Naru said. We all followed him into the restaurant and ate a quick lunch. Then the six of us headed out along the cliff face until we found a path leading down to the sea.

Naru led the way, followed by me, Hara-san and Yasuhara-san with Lin and Mori-san bringing up the rear.

The path led down a series of steps to a stony beach. Naru did not stop to appreciate the view, but ploughed forwards towards what looked like a cave.

When we reached the mouth of the cave, Naru turned to face us all.

"Weapons out, just in case." He pulled the gun he had previously threatened me with out. I looked around to see that everyone else had a gun, except me. Even Hara-san had a tiny little pistol.

I pulled a face and held up my hands in tight fists. Yasuhara-san laughed at my predicament.

"Stay behind me." He said and I obeyed after a nod from Naru. We walked in as a group and as our eyes adjusted to the light, we saw something more horrific than the bodies of Minami-san, Atsugi-san or Urado.

There were cages. The entire cave was filled with cages. And in every cage was at least four or five decaying corpses. All of them were female; the remains were fresh enough to tell that they were all reasonably young and not native Japanese.

"We wondered when you would turn up." A low guttural voice said from behind us all. Everyone spun around to see several rough looking men standing in the entrance of the cave. "We knew you were coming, so we had to dispose of our livestock." The leader of the men said as he pointed a gun directly at Naru. Everyone around me had their weapons trained on the gang in front of us. I moved behind Yasuhara-san again at an ushering movement he made with his hand.

"Eijiro-san, please don't do this." Hara-san moved forwards.

"You are the spitting image of him." Eijiro-san said to Naru, ignoring Hara-san completely.

"Eijiro-san!" Hara-san tried again. "My father will make it right with you. Just don't do this." She was pleading with this man, but why?

"Your father doesn't give a crap about keeping that boy alive." He spat. "Just like he doesn't give a crap about you." If his words hurt Hara-san she did not show it. "Now lower your weapons."

No one moved.

"Fine. Have it your way." Eijiro-san smirked and fired straight at Naru.

* * *

**Author's note: Thank you to Lucy for pointed out the typo in the last chapter! Seriously, everyone should do this because I become blind to them!**

"How u a tek so long fih update" **well Manda, I don't see you uploading chapters every day? You took an entire day after I posted the last chapter to read it and review it, so you can hardly complain to me about taking so long to update.**

"Ok, just write more tomorrow" **Well Amanda, I was very tempted not to update today at all. Just to spite you because of this review.**

**Thank you to everyone who watched the teaser! And I'm glad some of you worked it out :)**

**Also, there was a bit of a split between reviewers on whether or not you wanted more details on the kiss! Some of you did, some of you liked the way I left it hanging... But as I am trying to keep this T-rated I daren't stray into the danger that is passionate make out scenes... So I will leave the details of Mai and Naru's kisses to your imagination!**

**As for the Wattpad thing, I will upload my stories there at some point!**

**And if you aren't sure, someone died as a result of the bullet Eijiro-san fired. Everyone should guess who in the reviews!**

**I have now essentially written the entire story, I have a few bits to add to it, but it's almost all done!**

**So please review with your thoughts and predictions and any burning questions you want to know the answer to, I can't promise I will answer in a message, but it will help me make sure I answer everything in the story too!**


	24. Chapter 24

**Author's note: So I'm writing this here because the ending is... Well you'll see! One person actually guessed who died in so much detail I checked behind me for them watching me write! Guesses included: Masako, Lin, Yasuhara, Mai, Naru and no one... **

"Your such a bitch some time But sorry for not posting any reviews" **Yes Manda, I am a bitch for telling you not to tell me what to do. I'm such a bad person. If you have an issue please message AmyNChan as she'd like to have a word with you!**

**I have now completed this story!**

**But before I upset you all with this chapter, I would like to encourage anyone who had thought about writing fanfic and then not done it. Seriously, go and write! We need more good writers in this fandom and I believe all of you can do it!**

**Finally, I'd like to thank** W. Krishnamurthi **who wrote a one shot called **Love **about Masako in this fic, so everyone go and check that out!**

* * *

I saw Hara-san throw herself in front of Naru and watched as her body crumpled to the floor. As the others began firing back, I dropped the floor and rushed to Hara-san's side. She was bleeding profusely from a gaping hole in her chest.

"You're going to be okay!" I said quickly, placing my hand on the wound and applying pressure. I pulled my coat off and tried to use it to staunch the bleeding.

"Taniyama…" Hara-san whispered. Her breaths were short and shallow and I could only just hear her over the sounds of the gunshots.

"You can call me Mai, its fine; you're going to be okay."

"Mai, you have to go to the lake." She grabbed my shirt in a surprisingly tight grip. "Head inland. There's a lake. What Naru is looking for? It's in the lake."

"You can take us there yourself." I said. "You're going to be fine."

"I'm sorry." She gasped.

"Someone call an ambulance!" I shouted. The others had stopped firing. I looked up to see the rowdy men dead on the floor, but I didn't care. "Help!"

"It's okay Mai." Hara-san's grip on my shirt was slackening. "Thank you."

"No!" I screamed. "No! You can't die! Hara-san! Hold on!"

"You were always so kind…" She breathed. And then she breathed no more.

I lay her quickly on the floor and while holding my coat over her wound, began trying to perform CPR.

"Hara-san! You can't die!" I half screamed. "Wake up!"

"She's gone Mai." A gentle voice said from behind me.

"No! She's going to be okay! She can't die!"

"Mai, let go." Strong hands began pulling me away from Hara-san as I struggled to continue my attempts to save her. "She's gone."

"No! I can save her!" I begged, but the arms had already pulled me into a tight embrace. I sobbed weakly into Naru's chest. "She said we had to go the lake." I whimpered between sobs. "She said to head inland to a lake and we'd find what you were looking for."

Naru suddenly grabbed me by the shoulders and held me away from him.

"What?" He demanded.

"That's what she said. Head inland and what you're looking for is in the lake." I repeated, shocked by his change in demeanour.

"Naru, we need to go." Yasuhara-san said. "Chances are someone will have heard that."

Naru dragged me from the cave, leaving Hara-san and the other's dead on the floor, with Yasuhara-san, Mori-san and Lin hot on our heels. We all but ran back to the car.

People from the restaurant saw us coming. They looked shocked. Perhaps because of the weapons the others were carrying, or perhaps because I was covered in Hara-san's blood.

Naru swore.

"Get in the car." He ordered and I blindly followed Yasuhara-san. We sped off with Lin and Mori-san following close behind. Naru phoned through to the other car.

"_The police will probably be after us now. Those people will have alerted them to our presence. If this is the place I want you two to contact Martin and Luella without any argument._"

"_Noll, you better not do anything stupid._" Lin's voice said through the speaker.

"_Wouldn't dream of it._" He replied with sarcasm in his voice as he cut the call.

"Mai, are you alright?" Yasuhara-san asked me. I was shaking. My body was shaking and I couldn't make it stop. "Mai? Listen to me, okay? I want you to slow your breathing down."

"I can't." I sputtered.

"Yes you can." Yasuhara-san said. "Come on now, breath in two three four and out two three four." He repeated the counting until I managed to control myself. "It's just shock, you'll be okay."

"But she died in my arms…"

"Yes, but she died saving someone she cared about." He said consolingly.

I looked at Naru who was being silent as usual. He seemed thoroughly unperturbed that Hara-san had died for him. Did he not care?

I hoped he did.

Yasuhara-san suggested I changed into something less covered in blood. I pulled a fresh t-shirt from my suitcase. Awkwardly, I swapped clothes, trying to hide myself from the two men in the front of the car, despite the fact that neither of them was looking.

Twenty minutes later, we pulled up near an old lake surrounded by trees. I pushed my anguish to the back of my mind and focused on what was going on now. I could mourn Hara-san later.

"This is it." Naru said, more to himself than any of us as he climbed out of the car. "I've found it."

Yasuhara-san and I climbed out to see Madoka and Lin pull up behind us.

"Is this...?" Lin asked as he stuck his head out of the window.

"_Yes, get out of here and contact Martin and Luella with these co-ordinates._" Naru replied and I frowned as Lin turned the car around and sped off.

"Where are they going?"

"_Yasuhara, please keep a look out of the police. I want to take a look around._"

"_Of course._"

"Come on." Naru walked towards the vast expanse of water and I followed. "He's here." Naru muttered quietly, again as if he wasn't aware he was doing it.

"Who's here?"

"My brother."

I watched as he stared into the lake.

"Was that your reason for coming to Japan? To find him?"

"And get back at the people who killed him."

"Those men you killed in the cave? Was one of them Oliver Davis?" I asked.

Naru did not respond.

"So you'll be returning to your own country now?"

"Yes." His voice was emotionless and flat.

"Oh." I couldn't help but let the pathetic noise out. So much had happened in the last few hours. And now he was leaving. "I really like you." I said quickly.

"No you don't." Naru replied coldly. "The feelings you think you are feeling are due to something akin to Stockholm syndrome. You think you like me because pleasing me has kept you alive."

I didn't manage to find my voice for a whole minute out of shock.

"But you kissed me." I whispered. My body felt sort of numb.

"Playing into your delusion kept you under control."

Before I could ask anything else though, a sudden shout from Yasuhara-san caused us both to look around.

"They're coming!"

"Get out of here Yasuhara." Naru ordered. "Get back to headquarters and do what you can, if they catch me they should not come after you." I saw Yasuhara-san disappearing off into the trees.

"But there are no sirens…"

"They keep them off so they don't alert us to their presence." Naru told me.

Before I knew it, he had spun me around and held a knife to my throat as police cars swarmed into view. Takigawa-san and Matsuzuki-san were first out of the cars and had guns pointed at us.

"Are you going to kill me?" I whimpered, but as usual Naru did not reply. "I don't want you to die."

"Put the knife down!" Takigawa-san was yelling. "Put the knife down and let the girl go!"

"Please Naru, don't let them kill you." I whispered.

"Put the knife down!" Matsuzuki-san had a microphone.

There was a flash of silver.

A sudden pain in my neck.

And everything went black.

* * *

**Please review!**


	25. Chapter 25

When I woke, I found myself inside a grey room. It was almost bare. The only things inside where a table and three chairs. In the top right hand corner above the door was a security camera.

Where was Naru? He had had a knife to my throat. My hand felt around my neck but there was no damage. Where was the lake? And the others? What was going on? How long had I been out?

Slowly, I got to my feet and fumbled my way to the door. I turned the handle and was very surprised to find that the door opened.

I was even more shocked when I realised there was someone else on the other side. It was that detective; Takigawa-san?

"Why don't you take a seat, Taniyama?" He said gruffly.

As my eyes widened in fear, I scurried to a seat and Matsuzuki-san joined us.

"Let's cut to the chase, shall we?" Takigawa-san said. "We know that you know this man." He threw a picture of Naru down on the desk. It looked like it had been taken when Naru had been leaving the SPR office. "We want to know everything that you know about your 'boss', or should we say your 'boyfriend'?" He threw down another photo. It was the moment Naru had first kissed me, when he had pretended to be Narumi Kazuo to look around those houses. It all seemed so long ago.

"He's my boss." I said quietly.

"Yes, your boss who supposedly filed your tax incorrectly. Yet we know that Yasuhara corrected that issue. What do you know about him? Hmm?" Matsuzuki-san demanded.

"That he's an awful date."

I didn't know what to do. Both Naru and Yasuhara-san had told me to spill the beans on them but…

"You know what, Taniyama? I think you know that your boss is a killer. Do you want to see some of his work?"

I shook my head mutely, but that didn't stop Takigawa-san throwing images on the table as he spoke.

"This is the remains of the man killed by your boyfriend and found in your old school building. This is what was left of a man that your boyfriend blew up in a car he'd purchased. These are all of the members of a gang that he slaughtered. Perhaps you'd like to see the footage?"

I shook my head again, trying not to look at the horrific pictures.

"I've seen it." I whispered. "Please don't make me watch it again."

The two detectives smirked in satisfaction.

"Maybe we should show her the other video." Matsuzuki-san said.

I looked up as Takigawa-san as he pulled out a tablet and loaded a video.

He placed the device down on the table and reluctantly, I looked down at the screen.

The video had been taken at twilight judging from how dark it was. I could see an empty road. Then a masked person threw a bound body down on the road before turning to the camera and speaking.

"_Dear Mr Davis, we are giving our thanks for your work to your dear brother here. Maybe next time, you'll think twice about messing with us and our business._"

I didn't understand the entire message but recognised a few words; something to do with that Davis person and a brother. I frowned as the camera zoomed in on the face of the bound man. The masked man pulled the gag from the bound man's mouth and hissed something at him that the microphone didn't pick up.

The bound man looked into the camera and I gasped. It was Naru!

"Don't be an idiot, _Noll_." Naru said, then his body twisted around. The camera panned out slightly and I saw a car.

No.

No.

They wouldn't.

Not like that.

The red car's wheel went straight over Naru's head.

"No!" I shrieked. "He can't be dead! That's got to be fake. He can't be dead!" I begged as tears rushed to my eyes. Takigawa-san took the tablet back.

"We found that in Yasuhara's apartment."

"He can't be dead." I repeated. "He can't be! Why are you here? Someone killed him! Aren't you detectives? Why aren't you looking for his killer? He can't be dead." I couldn't take it in. Naru was dead.

"Taniyama why do you think Yasuhara would have such footage?"

"I don't know." I whimpered as I wiped my eyes.

"I don't think Yasuhara would have a copy of such a tape unless he'd been somewhat involved with it, do you?" I shook my head. "So why don't you tell us about Yasuhara?"

"He told me he doesn't kill people. He told me he respected Naru for his work." I said quietly. "He can pick locks."

"Yes he can." A familiar voice said as the door opened and Yasuhara-san himself walked in.

The two detectives spun around in shock and their hands went straight to their weapons.

"There will be no need for that." Yasuhara held up an identity card that recognised him as a member of the Public Security Intelligence Agency.

"What?" Takigawa-san spluttered.

"Perhaps you ought to take a seat." Yasuhara-san said and I finally came to my senses.

"You killed him." I growled. "How could you?!" I stood up from my chair and made to hit every part of his body that I could reach.

"He's not dead Taniyama-san." And Yasuhara-san's words made me stop dead in my tracks. "As these two very well know, the man who you saw die in the video was not the man you know as Naru."

"They knew?" I frowned. "You were trying to trick me?"

"Into giving information about Naru and me." Yasuhara-san confirmed. Takigawa-san and Matsuzuki-san did not even have the decency to look embarrassed.

"Who was it then?" I felt a few tears fall down my face.

"A British Intelligence spy by the name of Eugene Davis, also known as the Medium, brother of Oliver Davis, also known as the Scientist."

"The man that Minami-san pretended to have killed? That the others at that thing wanted dead?" I asked. "But why does he look so much like Naru? Unless…"

"The man you know as Naru, Shibuya Kazuya, Narumi Kazuo, is really Oliver Davis. The twin brother of Eugene Davis." Yasuhara-san revealed. "These two have been investigating Shibuya Kazuya, thinking he was really an assassin or something. They even worked with Hara-san to try and find out more. But Hara-san's father was using them." He laughed cruelly. "I was Naru's liaison with the Japanese government."

"But your finger? Why were you at that business thing? I thought you were Yakuza?"

"I have been undercover with a Yakuza family, this was part of the act." He held up his hand

"You cut your finger off for a job?!" I couldn't help but be shocked, that was dedication.

"But you were working for us?" Takigawa-san asked, nonplussed.

"Yes, the family wanted someone in the police force. They knew Hara-san's family had a foot in the door and did not want to fall behind."

"But Naru is alive?"

"Yes. He was in the adjacent room until about twenty minutes ago. They were torturing him." Yasuhara-san glared down at Takigawa-san and Matsuzuki-san.

"He was in Japan for his brother…" My mind was racing, and yet slowly, things were beginning to make sense. That's what Naru had said at the lake.

"Yes. For his brother's body, which he found in the lake that Hara-san informed you about, and to finish the job that Gene did not." Yasuhara-san replied sadly. "To stop the people smuggling operation; the people who cornered us in that cave."

"It was Hara-san's family?!" I asked incredulously.

"Family friends really…"Yasuhara-san said.

"Can I see him?"

But the door opened and two people I didn't know walked in.

"Yasuhara-san, it is nice to see you again." The woman said. She looked to be in her fifties with greying blonde hair. The man beside her was completely grey, but had a kind wrinkled face.

"Ah, Taniyama-san, Matsuzuki-san, Takigawa-san, this is Davis-san and Davis-san." Yasuhara-san made the introductions. "They are head of the Asiatic division of MI6."

Everyone bowed to each other and I stared at the two people. They were Davis' too? Was everyone called Davis?

"I can see you are confused Taniyama-san." Yasuhara-san continued. "Technically, these are Naru's parents."

"Naru?" The woman asked.

"Her nickname for Oliver."

"It's short for narcissist." I explained and to my surprise, they laughed. Or at least, the woman laughed, then translated for the man before he joined her in a slight chuckle.

"We've been in touch with our Japanese counterparts and they will have your entire record wiped, as officially this did not happen, as long as you sign the secrecy act." Davis-san said. "You will of course have to keep your silence for a minimum of thirty years."

"And what if I don't want to sign it?"

"Then we will have you thrown into gaol for aiding and abetting a known murderer and a known Yakuza member." She said coolly. "It's your choice."

"How can you say things like that so politely?" I scowled at the woman.

"I'm British, I will always out-polite you." She said with a hint of amusement.

"I'll sign it if I can see him."

"Of course." Davis-san said. "Yasuhara-san, would you?"

Yasuhara-san led me out of the room and away from the two Davis'. He led me down grey corridors until we came to what looked like a medical room.

I couldn't help but be shocked at Naru's appearance. His face as covered in bruises and he was holding ice against a cut on his chin.

"What did they do to you?"

"Interrogated me." He said calmly as if his injuries were nothing.

"But you're not a baddie!" I whimpered. "Why didn't you tell them to stop?"

"No point in lecturing pigs." He said and I wanted to laugh, but I had more questions.

"Yasuhara explained… Why didn't you tell me?"

"Strategic secret."

Obviously. Why didn't I realise that?

"Yasuhara, will you take Mai home? Ensure all her belongings are returned to her." Naru said, looking over my shoulder.

"Of course." Yasuhara said. "Your parents want to go as soon as you are ready. I'll give you two a minute." He left, closing the door behind him.

"I don't know what to call you anymore."

"Stick with Naru." He advised.

"Were you worried when I came up with that because it sounded like Noll? Lin called you that before?"

"Yes." He said simply.

"What happened at the lake?"

"I knocked you out. There is a point on the side of you neck that when struck knocks you out. If you hit it too hard you can die." He said coldly. "But I knew if you were knocked out they would be more concerned for your wellbeing than in interrogating you. I did it in the hope to spare you the treatment I knew they would give me. After you'd collapsed, I surrendered and they dragged us here."

"I'm sorry." I said quickly. "For what I said at the lake, it was wrong of me to-"

"Did you mean it?"

"What?"

"What you said at the lake."

I nodded mutely. He patted the bed beside him and I sat down before resting my head on his shoulder.

"You said Oliver Davis killed your brother? But they said you were Oliver Davis?" I left my real question unasked.

"We were taking down a smuggling ring. I let him go somewhere alone when we both knew we should've stuck together. He got caught and was killed." Naru said quietly. "It was my fault." His voice was completely emotionless.

"You shouldn't blame yourself." I replied automatically.

He shook his head slightly and we fell into silence.

"You never did tell me how you got into my apartment." I said quietly a few minutes later.

"And I don't plan to."

"Why?" I asked.

"If I tell you, you'll block it off, and then I'll never be able to get back in."

"But if you have to go back to England…" I trailed off, the thought hurt too much. I had known this man for what? Just over a month or so? And yet he had wormed himself into my life. "I'd leave the way in open for you." I whispered and I heard him chuckle lightly.

"I'm sorry Mai, about all of this. It's like Lin said, perhaps under different circumstances…"

"Was he talking about him and Mori-san?"

"Yes. He loves her." Naru spat the words out. "But people in my profession can't afford to love, we only lose them."

"But under different circumstances…?" I asked hopefully.

"Perhaps."

I knew that was the best I was going to get out of him, and raise my head from his shoulder.

"I'm sorry about your brother."

"Don't be, he was an idiot." Naru said, but there was a ghost of a smile on his lips, as if he was remembering something.

Then the door opened and the two Davis' walked in.

"_You alright Noll?_" The man said.

"_Yes._"

"_Time to go._"

Naru stood up and turned to face me.

"Here." Naru handed me something from his pocket. "Farewell, Mai." He said quietly and gave me a sad smile. I blinked back tears.

I looked down at the photograph of two black haired twin boys and smiled slightly.

I still had so many questions.

But he was gone.

* * *

Yasuhara-san drove me home personally from wherever we were after I signed the secrecy act. He had collected all of my belongings from evidence.

"Ask away." He said about five minutes into the drive.

"How did he end up like that?" I asked immediately.

"Eugene and Oliver were born in Japan but mostly raised for the first part of their lives in an American orphanage. They caused lot of trouble in this orphanage, but were never caught in open wrong doing. Martin and Luella Davis saw their potential and adopted them. They put the twin's skills to use after a bit of training."

"But they were children!" I replied, shocked. "Surely that's not allowed!"

"Officially, those two boys died before leaving America in a car crash. There was no one to check up on them."

"But it's still barbaric!"

"Some would think so, but they did a lot of good." Yasuhara-san said. "I told you before I respected him for his work and it is true. Those two saved a lot of lives."

"Why did Hara-san kill Urado? Not a proper assassin?"

"Urado was one of the most paranoid people around. Hara-san's father wanted him dead and told her to try. She succeeded. I would guess she got close to him by offering him the information on who killed one of his clans."

"Who?"

"The group Naru exterminated was one of Urado's."

"But she told him to kill them!"

"Urado did not know that."

"Why didn't you stop those detectives investigating Naru?"

"Because the underworld bosses would have been suspicious of a man who wasn't being targeted by the police." Yasuhara-san replied. "It gave him credibility."

I fell silent and stared out of the window.

"You're upset." Yasuhara-san stated.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because everyone lied and lied and lied. And Hara-san is dead and…"

"And because Naru is gone?" He prompted.

"Yes. Because Naru is gone." I agreed. How dare he just storm into my life, mess everything up and then just walk out like that? Leaving me jobless and utterly discontent to return to my normal boring life?

"I suspect it won't be the last you see of him." Yasuhara-san said kindly.

"Yes it will. Even if he had any sort of emotions for me, he said that people in his profession weren't allowed to care for others." I said bitterly. "Perhaps in another life…"

"You know, I read a theory about parallel universes whereby there could be a universe where you were together."

"Is that supposed to comfort me? That some other me is happy?" I frowned at the man.

"Perhaps not, but it's a nicer idea than no versions of yourself being happy."

"If we going with a daft theory like that," I said. "Then there is probably some parallel world where we're all ghost hunters or something stupid." I laughed. I couldn't help myself.

We half talked for the remainder of the journey. Yasuhara-san walked me up to my apartment with my things and gave me his card.

"If you need anything, ever, call that number." He said firmly before leaving.

It was over.

* * *

**Author's note: Your reviews were all so much fun! Not that I enjoyed worrying you all that I'd killed Mai or something...**

**There is one more chapter that I shall post in the morning UK time just to round everything off... **

**Please review!**


	26. Chapter 26

**Author's note: THIS IS THE FINAL CHAPTER!**

I read your story n I was touch - **Thank you Sammoy**

If your story is finish let c who can make the best love story about naru n Mai and who get the most comment win starting know that if u can do it don't no spr involve example live sah dem go pan case ok by the way mi lik yo story dats y mi a challenge yo - **If this is a legitimate challenge I will not be able to partake until after my exams, get an account Peppa head and I would be willing to listen to your proposition!**

Y u little how could u end the story lik dat ! - **I didn't, theres this chapter too... Don't you people read author notes?!**

Dont tel mi sah it done jus so - **No Manda, its not done until the end of this chapter!****  
**

**Well this now has over 450 reviews! So thank you everyone who sent me one! This is the most ambitious story I have ever written in terms of plot and I'm glad you all liked it! I know there are a few typos and the ending is a bit rushed, maybe over summer I will sort that out! I have exams for the next few weeks and so will not be writing! I say that but I will probably end up writing a one short or two because I'm addicted to writing...**

**Thank you all once again and here is the final chapter of A Hint of a Threat!**

* * *

A middle aged man rushed into the office of Martin Davis with worry in his eyes a week after the funeral of Eugene Davis.

"_Oliver has gone missing._" He said quickly. "_I can't find him anywhere._"

"_Hello Mark, have you checked the library?_" Martin asked calmly.

"_Yes._"

But the arrival of a tall man of Chinese origin interrupted them.

"_I know where he has gone._" Lin said.

"_Japan?_" Martin asked, still calm.

"_The plane leaves in about half an hour. He's also paid for Miss Taniyama's rent for the next ten years._"

Martin Davis chucked to himself.

"_What do we do?_" Mark asked. "_I can have men at the airport in ten minutes?_"

"_Let him go._" Luella had appeared in the doorway.

"_What?_"

"_I quite agree._" Martin said. "_Let him go._ _Call Yasuhara-san, ask him to arrange a raid on Taniyama-san's apartment tomorrow just so Noll thinks we are after him. He'll return when he's ready._"

* * *

My eyes might've been focused on the textbook in front of me, but not a single word was going in.

A knock at the door made me jump slightly. All loud noises in my apartment seemed to be causing such a reaction since what had happened. It had been several weeks since Naru had left for England. It felt like the whole thing had been a dream.

Ogawa-san had called round when I returned from the business trip checking I was okay and of course I had lied. I was not okay in the slightest. I had had nightmares of Hara-san dying in my arms every night for two weeks after I returned home. Going back to school had been torture, Michiru and Keiko knew something was wrong from my change in demeanour but, of course, I could not tell them a thing.

The person at the door was my landlord.

"You've had an anonymous donation." He said. "Your rent's been paid for about the next ten years."

"Excuse me?"

"I just thought you ought to know."

And he left.

I shut the door and returned to my homework, slightly stunned. What on earth had just happened? The next ten years? I might not even be here in ten years time!

I shook my head. Perhaps this was a dream. I opened my laptop and started some music playing. I smiled as one of my favourite songs began to play.

"_Arino mama de sore he kaze ni notte!_" I sung to myself as I looked back down at the textbook. "_Arino mama de tobidashite miru no!_" Perhaps this song was a bad idea, far too distracting. "_Nidoto namida ha nagasanai wa!_" I looked up to pick some less distracting music and felt a knife pressed to my throat.

I hit the space bar to pause the music.

"Scream and I'll kill you." A low voice whispered in my ears. "Now tell me why you are in this flat?"

"It's my home." I replied with the strangest sense of déjà vu.

He chuckled behind me and dropped the knife. I span around.

He was here.

Naru was here.

I threw myself at him and hugged him tightly.

"It's you." I whispered. He seemed slightly taken aback at the sudden embrace, but quickly recovered and hugged me back.

"We don't have much time."

"What do you mean?"

"They will know where I am and they'll probably look here first since I paid for your rent." He said calmly.

"Who are?"

"MI6? Yakuza? Take your pick. There are a multitude of people that want me back or want me dead…" He said.

"What? What are we going to do?"

There was a sudden bang on the door. Naru swore.

"Come with me."

He took my hand and dragged me down the corridor and into my laundry room. Naru pointed upwards at a loft hatch.

"That's how you got in?" I said incredulously. Of course I had looked around my apartment for entry points, but I had never thought to look up.

He lifted me up and through the gap in the ceiling before pulling himself up after.

"What is this?" We were in a tunnel lined with pipes that seemed to run the length of the building.

"Access tunnels for the plumbing. Don't touch the pipes to your right; they will probably be very hot."

Carefully, I started crawling along the tunnel.

"Where does this come out?"

"A maintenance room. Now the slower you go, the longer I can look at your underwear."

My face went scarlet; I had forgotten that I was wearing a skirt. I picked up the pace until we came out into the maintenance room he had spoken of. He led me out and down some stairs until we were out on the street.

I spotted Takigawa-san and Matsuzuki-san round the side of the building.

Naru took my hand again. He looked into my eyes and genuinely grinned.

"Run!"

**Fin.**


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